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House of Lords Bill [HL]

My Lords, I am sure that we are grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Steel, for introducing the Bill. In spite of the powerful speech of my noble friend Lord Richard, I hope that it will make more progress than the previous Bill. I agree with Part 1, which puts the Appointments Commission on a statutory basis. I also agree with the provisions of Clause 5, which include, "““a willingness and capacity to make a contribution to the work of the House of Lords””." I consider that to be absolutely essential. The great majority of Peers, of course, fulfil that requirement, but I am sorry to say that a small number do not. As Sir John Major said, once their backs touch those Red Benches they are off and we never see them again. I take particular note and agree with what the noble Lord, Lord Oakeshott, said, who I am glad to follow. It is surely right that this undertaking should be put on a statutory basis. Clause 10 closes off the by-election option for replacing hereditary Peers who have died. Although the 92 include the Leader of the Opposition, several shadow Ministers, and hardworking Peers on all parts of the House, the idea of the hereditary peerage constantly replenishing itself, sometimes with tiny electorates, has been much criticised. Although I am an elected hereditary Peer, I had the privilege of being elected by the whole House as a former Deputy Speaker. The time has now come to cut off this system, although I realise that the provision causes strong feelings. I consider Clause 13 on expelling a Peer from membership of the House if they have permanent leave of absence to be rather draconian. It may be that a Peer who has been a regular attender has been posted abroad on official business. He might have been sent as a commissioner to Brussels, for example, or he might be recovering from a lengthy illness. It seems rather unfair if they have to go cap in hand to make their excuses to a body stipulated by the House, which then decides whether, "““the reason given is of sufficient merit for the provisions … not to apply””—" ““the provisions”” relating to expulsion from the House. In conclusion, I hope that one day we shall have an elected Chamber where the Members are called senators. That would take care of many of the problems connected with the peerage that we have, regrettably, seen in recent years and which continue. The Bill attempts to put right some of those problems. It is a useful interim measure until we have the full-scale reform that I hope will not be too long in coming.