Reform of the UK House of Lords has been discussed seemingly for all of my adult life. The House of Lords Reform Act 2014, allowed for the removal of peers who are convicted of serious offences and sentenced to imprisonment. But there are also questions about the fact that they are unelected & about the sheer numbers, currently 846! It is the largest upper house in the world and, as of late 2024, was roughly 25% larger than the House of Commons. The majority are life peers, alongside 26 archbishops and bishops (Lords Spiritual) and a remaining number of hereditary peers. In other words most of them are political appointees - 740 approx. 282 were conservative, 230 are Labour, 177 are crossbench. In addition there are some lords who are ineligible to attend.
I am not impartial on this issue. I do think that a second chamber is beneficial. However members should be there because of their qualifications, experience & expertise. I also expect them to show evidence of ethics & service to others. They definitely should not be political appointees or generous donors to one party or another. They should be appointed by an independent committee representing the British people. Nor should, as was customary historically, top-level officials, such as Permanent Secretaries, Cabinet Secretaries, and Heads of the Diplomatic Service be given peerages for doing their job. I also think there should be parity between the upper & lower houses. Why on earth is it acceptable for the unelected Lords to be so much bigger than the commons? The current fillibustering of the assisted dying bill by a small number of lords is unacceptable, when it has beeen passed by the commons & the majority of the public support it.
Then we get to the question of ethics as currently being discussed regarding Peter Mandelson who has had to resign twice from the cabinet, once as Ambassador to the USA & currently from the labour party. He is the grandson of Herbert Morrison, a labour statesman in the 2nd world war & postwar period, who would no doubt be shocked at the current scandal.
I haven't met Mandleson, frankly I wouldn't want to. I can only judge him by his actions & he seems to me to be very smug & self serving. Shady dealings with the rich & powerful seem to have followed his political rise to prominence. He seems to value wealth & power above all things & be prepared to do almost anything to move in those circles. At the very least his judgement seems to be extremely questionable. It's a pattern we see all too often in prominent men. He is not alone. Several lords have criminal records;-
Lord Ahmed of Rotherham, convicted in 2021/2022 of serious sexual offences and attempted rape.
Lord Brocket, served time in prison for insurance fraud involving valuable cars.
Lord Sewel, resigned from the House of Lords in 2015 following a scandal involving alleged drug use and improper conduct, which led to a police investigation.
Lord Archer, convicted in 2001 of perjury and perverting the course of justice.
Lord Black of Crossharbour, convicted in the United States in 2007 of fraud and obstruction of justice.
Lord Watson of Invergowrie, convicted of wilful fire-raising.
Lord Taylor of Warwick, jailed in 2011 for false accounting. Lord Hanningfield, also convicted of false accounting.
Jonathan Aitken, former MP and minister who served a custodial sentence for perjury and perverting the course of justice.
Mandleson is not alone & those are only the ones who have faced the full force of the law.
Instead of talking about reform & setting up committees our politicians need to act & reform our government institutions. They are disfunctional. They do not serve us. We should not tolerate this abuse of power in the name of democracy. Politics & democracy have become dirty words.
