House of Lords Bill [HL]

My noble friend will have to listen to the end of my speech. The point is that the Bill will create a new statutory Appointments Commission. The Prime Minister will lose a large part of his current role of appointing Members to the House of Lords, including the Cross Benches. I have only to mention the name of the noble Lord, Lord Crisp, the former chief executive of the NHS, who was appointed directly by the Prime Minister, as was the former Bishop of Oxford, the noble and right reverend Lord, Lord Harries of Pentregarth. My understanding—I could be wrong; my noble friend Lord Norton will be able to put me right in a moment—is that the Prime Minister would not be allowed to appoint Members to the Cross Benches if the Bill were passed. The commission is told that it must have regard to certain provisions set out in Clause 8, including a duty to balance the political membership of this House. Who is the commission to decide such a thing? Perish the thought that the people of this country, or even the safe, restricted pre-1832 franchise of people of this country, might determine directly the membership of this House. Instead, that obligation will be given to nine people on a commission meeting in secret. It is often said that no one would invent this House if they were starting with a blank sheet of paper and that it is unique in the world, but to replace one unique system—