I refer, naturally, not to the House of Lords itself, which I don’t care about all that much, but to the glorious heritage and pageantry of calls for the reform of the House of Lords, which date back centuries, yet still thrive. There then came what you might think of as a fairly conclusive reform – abolishing the Lords altogether – which happened in 1649. It soon became clear, however, that not having a House of Lords was a serious obstacle to politicians and the public exercising their historic, inalienable right to call for its reform or abolition. In both cases a fudge, similar to the one that has led to the survival of the last few hereditary peers, was devised for Scottish and Irish peers to elect some of their number. Actually, even some of the hereditary peers have such expertise or experience.

Source: The Herald March 23, 2021 04:52 UTC