Removal of hereditary peers from House of Lords ‘long overdue’, says Thomas-Symonds

Nick Thomas-Symonds has said Labour’s proposal to remove hereditary peers from the House of Lords is “long overdue”.

Speaking in the commons second reading debate on the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Reform Bill, the paymaster general channeled former prime minister Herbert Asquith when he said the legislation would create “a more perfect attainment.”

Thomas-Symonds said: “There should not be places in our parliament making our laws reserved for those who are born into certain families.

“In fact, we are one of only two countries that still retain that hereditary element in our legislatures — a clear sign the time has come to see through this long overdue change.”

He added: “On the 21st of February 1911, when the then-prime minister, Herbert Asquith, moved the second reading of what became the landmark Parliament Act of 1911, he said this: ‘We present it to the House as the first and most urgent step towards a more perfect attainment’.

“I present this bill, over a century later, in the same spirit.”

The Conservative Party spokesperson, Sir Oliver Dowden, spoke critically of the proposed legislation, saying that the House of Lords as it is currently comprised “works”.

He told MPs: “The British constitution is not codified. If establishing a new country from scratch, one might choose not to craft such a system. But we are proud to be an old country, not a new one.

“The checks and balances of the Lords — its tried and tested conventions — work. The Lords does not claim to be a democratic chamber and that is the key point.”

The former deputy prime minister added: “The British constitution does and should continue to evolve. But we should only fix what is broken and be cautious about rushing into change.”

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