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House of Lords: Reform

My Lords, I am a people’s Peer. I filled in an application form, went for an interview and got the job. Apparently, 5,000 people applied for it. I must disappoint my friends and some other people who might be listening by questioning the idea of a 100 per cent-elected House and the idea that voting is more legitimate or more democratic. But let me deal with the fact that people will say, ““Well, he would say that, wouldn’t he? He’s in the House and he’s arguing for it””. If there is a 100 per cent-elected House, I will not miss dashing down from Scotland to speak for three minutes; I will not miss the ridicule in the press; I will not miss the responsibility; and I can do different things with the time. The fact is that, as the noble Lord, Lord Norton of Louth, pointed out, voting is a tool of democracy, not democracy itself. Democracy is the balance between debate and choice, represented by the two halves of Parliament—on the one hand, the elected House and, on the other, this House, where we debate and can revise. As a six-foot black man, I know that I, as with fellow members of my community, would stand less chance of being elected to the House than I would have of being here under the current method, and the statistics bear me out. There are more black people in the House of Lords than in the House of Commons. Those are the facts. As the noble Lord, Lord Lamont, pointed out—it is important to make this point—the fact that we have people of some age and experience in the House of Lords is to be respected, not abused. I am 44 years old. I hope I have the debating skills that I have witnessed during the course of this debate when I am the age of some Members of this House. Those who argue about the anachronistic rituals in this House and then fly off to Africa to watch the Masai Mara dance make me laugh. It is just tradition. I have no problem with tradition; I have a problem with bigotry, poverty, ignorance and slack thinking. This House deserves better than to vote with fashion, without reason. That is not democracy; that is capitulation.