Motion on Lords Reform – LDConf Sept2011

 Electoral Reform, House of Lords Reform, Liberal Democrats, Politics  No Responses »
Jun 222011
 
HOL

A conference motion “From Lords to Senate in 2015″ has been written with contributions from a number of people including those from the Liberal Democrats for Lords Reform campaign. We are now looking for support for this motion from conference reps.

If you do support this motion and are a voting conference rep please email Mark Pack at mark.pack@gmail.com with your name, membership number and local party.

From Lords to Senate in 2015

Conference notes:

1) the commitment of Asquith’s Liberal Government in the 1911 Parliament Act to “substitute for the House of Lords as it at present exists a Second Chamber constituted on a popular instead of hereditary basis” but that “such substitution [could not] be immediately brought into operation”

2) the commitments of all three major UK parties in their 2010 manifestos to complete comprehensive reform of the House of Lords

3) Labour’s three previous manifesto commitments to Lords reform in 1997, 2001 and 2005

4) the longstanding policies of the Liberal Democrats, and of our predecessor parties, in favour of a wholly or mainly elected Lords, demonstrated in repeated manifesto commitments

5) that the Coalition Government is the first to honour its manifesto pledges on House of Lords reform by publishing a draft Bill and White Paper to bring democracy to the second chamber of Parliament

Conference congratulates Nick Clegg and David Cameron for making a joint commitment to elections in 2015, after 13 years of Labour dithering and failure. Conference condemns Labour’s divided, opportunistic and hypocritical response.

Conference believes that the White Paper proposals:

i) will ensure neither heredity nor patronage determines who sits in Parliament

ii) retain the primacy of the House of Commons by leaving the Parliament Acts in place

iii) retain the best of the existing House’s independent spirit and long-term thinking while allowing the public to choose those who legislate on their behalf

iv) will strengthen Parliament as a whole in its ability to check the power of the Executive

Conference further believes that the Joint Committee on Lords Reform will need particularly to examine the issues of:

  1. gender balance and diversity in the new chamber
  2. the size of the House, and the likely workload of its members
  3. which proportional electoral system to use
  4. whether or not to retain a small appointed element

Conference welcomes the Joint Committee’s commitment to constructive pre- legislative scrutiny of the draft Bill and congratulates the Government on being the first to bring forward legislation after a century of broken promises by previous administrations.

Conference reaffirms its commitment to longstanding Party policy, and to repeated manifesto commitments, in favour of an elected House of Lords and calls on Parliament to ensure that legislation is in place to make Lords elections happen in 2015.

Grassroots Lib Dem Group Campaigning for Lords Reform Launched

 Electoral Reform, Liberal Democrats, Politics  No Responses »
Jun 162011
 
houseoflords

Many thanks to Mark Pack fot sending out this press release on the Liberal Democrats for Lords Reform. Please sign up at the Facebook group below.

The number of Liberal Democrat peers opposing the government’s plans for elections to the House of Lords has triggered the creation of a new campaign group by grassroots activists who back the introduction of elections.

“Liberal Democrats for Lords Reform” is campaigning for Liberal Democrat peers to stick to the party’s long-standing policy of an elected Upper House.
“We’ve already been waiting over 100 years for Lords reform to be completed. It’s absurd that in the 21st century you can get to be a member of Parliament, voting through the laws the rest of us have to follow, without ever having to win a single vote from a single member of the public – and be guaranteed a seat for life, regardless of how lazy, incompetent or eccentric you turn out”, said Mark Pack.

“We always knew there would be some political dinosaurs in the Labour and Tory parties who would hang on to the idea that it’s all a bit too soon to have democracy for both halves of Parliament, but Liberal Democrat peers should remember the clue is in the party’s name. We’re democrats and elections for the Lords is one of the party’s longest-standing policy commitments,” said Richard Davis.

The group has been formed by Rob Blackie, Richard Davis, Richard Morris and Mark Pack. It is gathering signatures on its Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/LordsReform and will be submitting a motion to the party’s autumn conference.