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| Version 9 | Version 10 |
|---|---|
| Vote due on House of Lords reform | Vote due on House of Lords reform |
| (about 5 hours later) | |
| MPs are preparing to vote on whether they want all, or some, members of a reformed the House of Lords to be elected, rather than appointed as now. | |
| Commons leader Jack Straw has put forward options ranging from all Lords being elected to all being appointed. | |
| He hopes to find one option - with 80% elected and 20% appointed favourite - around which MPs could unite. | |
| A series of nine votes, including one on whether to keep an upper house, will take place between 1740GMT and 2000GMT. | |
| Options | Options |
| MPs of all parties have been given a free vote - rather than orders from party bosses - on the issue. | |
| The choices before MPs are: all elected; 80% elected and 20% appointed; 60% elected and 40% appointed; half and half; 40% elected and 60% appointed; 20% elected and 80% appointed; all appointed. | The choices before MPs are: all elected; 80% elected and 20% appointed; 60% elected and 40% appointed; half and half; 40% elected and 60% appointed; 20% elected and 80% appointed; all appointed. |
| Mr Straw will vote in favour of three of the options - 50%, 60% or 80% of the upper house being elected. | Mr Straw will vote in favour of three of the options - 50%, 60% or 80% of the upper house being elected. |
| He said: "The choice in my judgement is stark - change or wither away." | He said: "The choice in my judgement is stark - change or wither away." |
| REFORM PROPOSALS A 'hybrid' of elected and appointed peersReduce size of House from 746 to 540 membersEnd hereditary and life peerages over timeElected peers to be voted in at same time as Euro electionsMaximum time in office of 15 years for elected and appointed peersAppointees a mixture of party politicians and non-party figuresLords may be renamed - possibly 'The Reformed Chamber'Anglican bishops and archbishops to keep seats Plans at-a-glance Full text of White Paper | |
| It is possible for more than one of the choices to be backed by a majority of MPs. | It is possible for more than one of the choices to be backed by a majority of MPs. |
| However, as no bill is being debated, the most popular option will not pass into law - it is intended to inform future government policy. | |
| As MPs prepare for the vote, Labour peer Lord Lipsey, former economics editor of the Sunday Times, has published figures of £1,092m as the cost for the proposed shake-up. | As MPs prepare for the vote, Labour peer Lord Lipsey, former economics editor of the Sunday Times, has published figures of £1,092m as the cost for the proposed shake-up. |
| He said he used official figures and plausible assumptions to reach the estimate, but a government source dismissed that figure as based on "back-of-an-envelope calculations". | |
| The last time the Commons voted on Lords reform, Mr Straw backed plans for a wholly appointed upper house. | The last time the Commons voted on Lords reform, Mr Straw backed plans for a wholly appointed upper house. |
| He told MPs that while he initially thought an elected second chamber would "undermine" the primacy of the Commons, he had since changed his mind. | He told MPs that while he initially thought an elected second chamber would "undermine" the primacy of the Commons, he had since changed his mind. |
| But he admitted that if there was a partially or wholly elected upper house, "then the appetite to challenge this place [the Commons] will increase. | But he admitted that if there was a partially or wholly elected upper house, "then the appetite to challenge this place [the Commons] will increase. |
| "We have to anticipate that when drawing up the framework for how a second house will work," Mr Straw said. | "We have to anticipate that when drawing up the framework for how a second house will work," Mr Straw said. |
| Conservative policy director Oliver Letwin said the "primacy" of the Commons was overrated. | |
| "There are some people in this House who are concerned about the matter - my point is the 60 million people out there (who) couldn't care less about the primacy of anything, particularly the House of Commons." | |
| He said in constitutional terms what mattered was "can the government govern?" | |
| 'Historic week' | |
| Liberal Democrat constitutional affairs spokesman Simon Hughes said his party would only vote for the 80% and 100% elected options. | Liberal Democrat constitutional affairs spokesman Simon Hughes said his party would only vote for the 80% and 100% elected options. |
| He added: "This could be a historic week, and it will be if we don't make the mistake of February 2003 [when attempts to reform the Lords failed]." | He added: "This could be a historic week, and it will be if we don't make the mistake of February 2003 [when attempts to reform the Lords failed]." |
| At the moment all peers are appointed, apart from the 92 hereditary peers who survived the first phase of Lords reform during Tony Blair's first term in office. | At the moment all peers are appointed, apart from the 92 hereditary peers who survived the first phase of Lords reform during Tony Blair's first term in office. |
| Labour's Sir Gerald Kaufman said six of the options were "gibberish", with abolition, 100% elected or 100% appointed being the only possibilities, but he warned that regardless of the vote on Wednesday, the next prime minister would not allow "his only full session of this Parliament to be bogged down with this ludicrous nonsense". | |
| Any changes would face a big challenge to get through the Commons. Even if they did so they would then be expected to face a rough ride in the Lords. |