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Ministerial statement on Tuesday, 17 May 2011, in the House of Commons, led by Nick Clegg.

House of Lords Reform (Draft Bill)

Statement on House of Lords reform.

Secondary information

Type
Parliamentary proceeding
Reference
528 c155-75 
Session
2010-12
Department
Deputy Prime Minister
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Related items
House of Lords Reform Draft Bill.
Tuesday, 17 May 2011
Command papers
House of Commons
Proceeding contributions
Nick Clegg | 528 c168 (Link to this contribution) That is a very important point, which shows that there is a chance of reform on several fronts, not ...
Susan Elan Jones | 528 c168 (Link to this contribution) The Deputy Prime Minister speaks of supernumerary appointments—a rather complex word. Could it not b...
Show all contributions (117)
Nick Clegg | 528 c168-9 (Link to this contribution) As I specified earlier, all we are envisaging is that if future Prime Ministers wish to appoint Mini...
Jesse Norman | 528 c169 (Link to this contribution) A reform of the House of Lords is undoubtedly needed, but this is not a reform measure. It contempla...
Mark Lazarowicz | 528 c170 (Link to this contribution) It is obviously right for a Government to proceed on a basis of consensus, given that this is a majo...
Nick Clegg | 528 c169 (Link to this contribution) First, I do not accept the principal assertion that if someone has the audacity to stand for electio...
Geraint Davies | 528 c169 (Link to this contribution) How can someone elected for 15 years be democratically accountable if they cannot stand for election...
Nick Clegg | 528 c169 (Link to this contribution) In many respects the provisions of Lord Steel's Bill are in part covered by the proposals that we ar...
Geoffrey Clifton-Brown | 528 c169 (Link to this contribution) May I remind the Deputy Prime Minister and the House that the Japanese recently reformed their upper...
Nick Clegg | 528 c169 (Link to this contribution) As I said earlier, every time that has been looked at on a cross-party basis, the conclusion has bee...
Baroness Morgan of Cotes | 528 c167 (Link to this contribution) Is it not the case that if Members of the second Chamber are elected on a constituency basis, howeve...
Nick Clegg | 528 c167 (Link to this contribution) First, as I said earlier, this House will have the final say—that will remain. Secondly, I think the...
Nick Clegg | 528 c167 (Link to this contribution) I think the hon. Gentleman has some force to his argument, but one thing we were keen to preserve in...
Tony Baldry | 528 c168 (Link to this contribution) Surely the answer to the points made by the hon. Members for Leicester West (Liz Kendall) and for Pe...
Nick Clegg | 528 c168 (Link to this contribution) We have looked into the latter point and it is consistent with the Human Rights Act. The draft Bill ...
Tristram Hunt | 528 c168 (Link to this contribution) Does the Deputy Prime Minister share the views of his hon. Friend the Liberal Democrat president, th...
Nick Clegg | 528 c168 (Link to this contribution) As I said, in the draft Bill we have proposed one system—the single transferable vote—primarily beca...
Andrew Percy | 528 c167-8 (Link to this contribution) I broadly welcome the proposals to elect our second Chamber and I shall certainly be supporting them...
Nick Clegg | 528 c167 (Link to this contribution) I spoke to the First Minister earlier today and explained to him in considerable detail what we are ...
Nick Clegg | 528 c171 (Link to this contribution) That would probably meet an even more noisy reception that the balanced package that we have put for...
Andrew George | 528 c171 (Link to this contribution) Would my right hon. Friend like to state clearly for the House what he believes the primary purpose ...
Nick Clegg | 528 c171 (Link to this contribution) The House of Lords now, and a reformed House of Lords in the future, would fulfil its task of review...
Sandra Osborne | 528 c171-2 (Link to this contribution) It will seem very strange in the 21st century for only one faith and one Church to be represented in...
Nick Clegg | 528 c172 (Link to this contribution) I sought to answer those concerns earlier. What we are trying to do—it is not an easy balance to str...
Nick Clegg | 528 c172 (Link to this contribution) That is a rather good argument for the case, which was criticised earlier, of non-renewable terms: s...
Bob Stewart | 528 c172 (Link to this contribution) How can those elected to the other place remain, to quote the Deputy Prime Minister, ““one step remo...
Lord McCabe | 528 c172 (Link to this contribution) I think that this is the wrong priority at the wrong time, but if the Deputy Prime Minister is confi...
Nick Clegg | 528 c170 (Link to this contribution) Of course we need to get the balance right in seeking to get as much support for these measures as p...
Caroline Lucas | 528 c170 (Link to this contribution) I welcome the Deputy Prime Minister's statement, but given that a poll released today shows that 74%...
Nick Clegg | 528 c170-1 (Link to this contribution) I hear the hon. Lady's strength of feeling on the issue and respect it, but the fact is that we have...
Martin Vickers | 528 c170 (Link to this contribution) Like my neighbour, my hon. Friend the Member for Brigg and Goole (Andrew Percy), I broadly welcome t...
Nick Clegg | 528 c170 (Link to this contribution) We had precisely that discussion in the cross-party committee and, for the exact reason the hon. Gen...
Mike Gapes | 528 c171 (Link to this contribution) The Deputy Prime Minister has clearly had a difficult few weeks. May I give him some advice? I sugge...
Nick Clegg | 528 c171 (Link to this contribution) Those powers of the European Parliament were ultimately changed because of a negotiation between it ...
Baroness Coffey | 528 c171 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend was a Member of the European Parliament, which moved from being an appointed bo...
Speaker | 528 c171 (Link to this contribution) Order. I am keen to accommodate remaining colleagues who wish to speak, so I reiterate the merits of...
Nick Clegg | 528 c175 (Link to this contribution) As I said earlier, I have a lot of sympathy in principle with the argument for a wholly elected Cham...
William Bain | 528 c175 (Link to this contribution) How sustainable does the Deputy Prime Minister believe it is to create a hybrid Chamber with two cla...
Nick Clegg | 528 c174-5 (Link to this contribution) As I said, all the parties' manifestos are committed to reform of the House of Lords. They differ sl...
Nick Clegg | 528 c174 (Link to this contribution) Of course there is a compelling case, for which I have argued for a very long time, for a fully elec...
Nick Clegg | 528 c175 (Link to this contribution) No. It really is worth looking at the history of the cross-party commissions and Committees that hav...
John Stevenson | 528 c173 (Link to this contribution) I just want a little further clarification on a question that one of my hon. Friends raised. Is it i...
Nick Clegg | 528 c173 (Link to this contribution) The idea proposed in the Bill—again, I really should stress that this is not some sort of new idea b...
Fiona Mactaggart | 528 c173 (Link to this contribution) As someone who wishes the Deputy Prime Minister well in this effort, may I ask him, first, why he be...
Nick Clegg | 528 c173 (Link to this contribution) That is exactly what we propose: that it is either by election or appointment, but not by heredity, ...
Dan Poulter | 528 c172-3 (Link to this contribution) Does my right hon. Friend agree that the hereditary principle is wrong in principle? Whatever comes ...
Nick Clegg | 528 c172 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman says ““now””, but we have been criticised in the past for pushing forward with ch...
Nick Clegg | 528 c174 (Link to this contribution) I can certainly give the hon. Gentleman that assurance. I have sought to explain that we are determi...
Nick Clegg | 528 c173 (Link to this contribution) Yes, the idea is that they should be held on the same day if, for exceptional reasons, there were to...
Nick Clegg | 528 c173-4 (Link to this contribution) That is a rather tired point to make at this stage of the debate. I agree that it is not a priority,...
Nick Clegg | 528 c161 (Link to this contribution) Of course I accept that many issues that we discuss in the Chamber, and many issues with which any G...
Bernard Jenkin | 528 c161 (Link to this contribution) Is this not yet another tatty roadshow brought to us by the same people who thought that the British...
Nick Clegg | 528 c162 (Link to this contribution) I remind the hon. Friend that last year he fought a campaign in favour of—this was in the Conservati...
Mark Durkan | 528 c162 (Link to this contribution) Does the Deputy Prime Minister recognise that Lords reform is essentially a penalty shoot-out in whi...
Nick Clegg | 528 c162 (Link to this contribution) Whatever one's views about the Church, it is a fact that it is an established Church, and that is re...
Lord Redwood | 528 c162 (Link to this contribution) What sort of people does the Deputy Prime Minister wish to select to this hybrid Chamber, and why do...
Nick Clegg | 528 c162 (Link to this contribution) It would not be up to me, or to any members of future Governments, to make such selections. Core to ...
David Winnick | 528 c162 (Link to this contribution) I must tell the Deputy Prime Minister that I have never seen less enthusiasm for a Minister's propos...
Nick Clegg | 528 c162 (Link to this contribution) Given that the hon. Gentleman and other Members in all parts of the House fought a general election ...
Liz Kendall | 528 c163 (Link to this contribution) Does the Deputy Prime Minister personally believe that there is a case for keeping bishops in the Ho...
Nick Clegg | 528 c163 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend for his remarks, and I agree that the notion that somehow more democracy can ...
Ben Bradshaw | 528 c163 (Link to this contribution) I welcome these proposals, but may I suggest that the Deputy Prime Minister might have included in h...
Nick Clegg | 528 c163-4 (Link to this contribution) As I have said, we are very keen to proceed on as consensual and pragmatic a basis as possible. [Int...
Edward Leigh | 528 c163 (Link to this contribution) Will the Deputy Prime Minister remind the House how many other countries elect people for 15 years—a...
Nick Clegg | 528 c163 (Link to this contribution) As I said earlier, the idea that in a reformed House of Lords there should be long non-renewable ter...
William Cash | 528 c164 (Link to this contribution) The Deputy Prime Minister will know that the draft Bill states that nothing in these proposals shall...
Nick Clegg | 528 c164 (Link to this contribution) Primacy is clearly set out in the two Parliament Acts, and was also clearly set out in my earlier st...
Nick Clegg | 528 c164 (Link to this contribution) As I said earlier, I think that the Parliament Acts are very clear on that point.
Mark Williams | 528 c164 (Link to this contribution) Does my right hon. Friend see these proposals as a means of empowering the voices of the devolved na...
Nick Clegg | 528 c164 (Link to this contribution) Clearly, a proportional electoral system, whichever one is finally settled on, would be reflective o...
Lord Dodds of Duncairn | 528 c164 (Link to this contribution) Will the Deputy Prime Minister give an undertaking that the Joint Committee that is to be set up wil...
Nick Clegg | 528 c165 (Link to this contribution) The Catholic Church prohibits its bishops from sitting in Parliaments and political bodies. Leaders ...
Conor Burns | 528 c165 (Link to this contribution) May I say to the Deputy Prime Minister that it is the view of many on the Government Benches that we...
Nick Clegg | 528 c164 (Link to this contribution) This is clearly not something for the Government to decide; it is up to the usual channels, and I kn...
Julian Lewis | 528 c165 (Link to this contribution) When asked by my hon. Friend the Member for Epping Forest (Mrs Laing) how one would resolve a clash ...
Nick Clegg | 528 c165 (Link to this contribution) As I said earlier, as is set out clearly under the Parliament Acts and in line with the convention t...
Angela C Smith | 528 c165 (Link to this contribution) I am surprised that the Deputy Prime Minister should be focusing on this issue, given that in the lo...
Jo Swinson | 528 c166 (Link to this contribution) Only a fifth of the current Members of the House of Lords are women yet we still have the anachronis...
Nick Clegg | 528 c166 (Link to this contribution) We cover this in the White Paper. My hon. Friend is right to say that a reform of the other place pr...
Dennis Skinner | 528 c166 (Link to this contribution) Against the background of events a few days ago when the British people voted by 70% to throw out th...
Nick Clegg | 528 c166 (Link to this contribution) Never occurred to me, Mr Speaker—never. The hon. Gentleman seems to be suggesting that any electoral...
Nick Clegg | 528 c165 (Link to this contribution) Of course I acknowledge that people will have different views, will feel strongly about the matter a...
Barry Gardiner | 528 c167 (Link to this contribution) May I suggest to the right hon. Member that he is confusing legitimacy with accountability? Although...
Duncan Hames | 528 c166 (Link to this contribution) I would like to see every vote cast in our democratic Parliament cast by individuals who have been e...
Nick Clegg | 528 c167 (Link to this contribution) Clearly, one of the features of the proposal we are including in the draft Bill—namely, 80% elected ...
Tom Harris | 528 c166 (Link to this contribution) May I welcome the Deputy Prime Minister's commitment to bringing to House of Lords reform the same g...
Nick Clegg | 528 c166 (Link to this contribution) It would fulfil the same function as it has at the moment, but it would do so with far greater legit...
Nick Clegg | 528 c160 (Link to this contribution) I remind the right hon. Gentleman that the insight that it is best to have long non-renewable terms ...
Lord Blunkett | 528 c159-60 (Link to this contribution) The stated aims of the proposal are clearly legitimacy and accountability. How would an election sys...
Nick Clegg | 528 c160 (Link to this contribution) I strongly agree with my right hon. Friend in the basic principle that people should be able to hold...
Simon Hughes | 528 c160 (Link to this contribution) Given that this issue has been on the agenda of Parliament for so long and that reforming the second...
Nick Clegg | 528 c160-1 (Link to this contribution) We already know the role of the House of Lords—scrutiny and revision. Every time this issue has been...
Frank Dobson | 528 c160 (Link to this contribution) Does the Deputy Prime Minister not agree that a sounder approach would be to decide what we want the...
Nick Clegg | 528 c161 (Link to this contribution) I just do not recognise that. A commitment was made by the hon. Gentleman's party, by the Labour par...
Andrew Turner | 528 c161 (Link to this contribution) May I ask the right hon. Gentleman again whether he intends to continue to pursue, in the words of L...
Baroness Hoey | 528 c161 (Link to this contribution) Most people will agree that the House of Lords has become too large, but that could be changed by al...
Nick Clegg | 528 c155-7 (Link to this contribution) With permission, Mr Speaker, I wish to make a statement about the Government's plans to reform the o...
Lord Khan of Tooting | 528 c157-8 (Link to this contribution) I thank the Deputy Prime Minister for advanced sight of the statement, and for how he chaired the wo...
Speaker | 528 c159 (Link to this contribution) Order. A great many hon. Members are seeking to catch my eye. Brevity is therefore of the essence.
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 528 c159 (Link to this contribution) Does the Deputy Prime Minister appreciate that there will be a warm welcome for the fact that he is ...
Gavin Shuker | 528 c174 (Link to this contribution) I welcome the broad thrust of the Deputy Prime Minister's statement, the draft Bill and the White Pa...
Lord Brennan of Canton | 528 c174 (Link to this contribution) As the Deputy Prime Minister headed off towards the high savannah with his bag of fudge, was he at a...
Andrew Love | 528 c174 (Link to this contribution) With a democratic Chamber having been endorsed in all three major political parties' manifestos, and...
Bill Esterson | 528 c173 (Link to this contribution) Constitutional reform is not a priority of my constituents; they showed that, not least, in the AV r...
Nick Clegg | 528 c171 (Link to this contribution) I think the hon. Gentleman is suggesting that we should come forward with a proposal to abolish the ...
Lord Watts | 528 c175 (Link to this contribution) Given that recent events demonstrate that the British people want to retain first past the post, why...
Viscount Thurso | 528 c163 (Link to this contribution) I congratulate my right hon. Friend on his modest progress. The plain fact is that an unelected Lord...
Nick Clegg | 528 c163 (Link to this contribution) As I said earlier, the Church is an established Church. We have set out proposals in the Bill, howev...
Graham Stringer | 528 c164 (Link to this contribution) The Deputy Prime Minister keeps asserting that the conventions will stay the same, but when the othe...
Nick Clegg | 528 c159 (Link to this contribution) We discussed this in the cross-party committee. It is precisely to avoid competition between the two...
Nick Clegg | 528 c159 (Link to this contribution) We will leave it to the House of Lords itself to decide the precise method of reduction by thirds. W...
Angus Brendan MacNeil | 528 c167 (Link to this contribution) Can the Deputy Prime Minister confirm that he has had discussions with Scotland's First Minister, Al...
Nick Clegg | 528 c172 (Link to this contribution) The final Bill, which we will bring forward after it has been subject to pre-legislative scrutiny by...
Nick Clegg | 528 c158-9 (Link to this contribution) Not only did the right hon. Gentleman fluff the lines at the beginning, he also failed to rise to th...
Subjects
Bishops Elections House of Lords House of Lords composition Electoral systems Public appointments Peers Reform Single transferable vote Crossbenchers
Legislation
Draft House of Lords Reform Bill
Link
View this Parliamentary proceeding on www.publications.parliament.uk