Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Lord Elystan-Morgan (Crossbench). It was answered on Monday, 22 June 2009.

Parliament Act 1911

Question: My Lords, does the noble Baroness recollect that the preamble to the 1911 Act says that, ""whereas it is intended to substitute for the House of Lords as it at present exists a second chamber constituted on a popular instead of hereditary basis … such substitution cannot immediately be brought into operation"?" Since it took Parliament some 80 years to overcome the first of those obstacles, albeit only in part, would it be right to look on the final solution as something that exists less on the plane of time than on that of eternity?

Answer: My Lords, I think that the Benches to my left are much better equipped to talk about eternity than I am. However, this Government should be congratulated on bringing forward the first very important stage of reform in 88 years.

Secondary information