This post is really in reply to a debate about House of Lords reform on Twitter, this reply from Rachael Bates demands a fuller reply than the 140 characters allowed on Twitter so I have directed her to this post, House of Lords reform is a very important subject and probably the most important subject that no one os interested in but it really does effect our democracy!
@dalewood: I don’t get how allowing the people of this great nation to be able to vote on who sits in both chambers is a threat to democracy.
RachaelBatesUK replied to dalewood9 hours ago
- Phil Baker Editor and Political Commentator
Referencing Rachael Bates comment, of course it is entirely proper and essential to democracy that the public votes for the members of any chamber responsible for drawing up and driving through legislation but that chamber is the House of Commons, the House of Lords is a revising chamber and as such totally different, to elect the membership of the House of Lords will affect the balance in our democracy and give the House of Lords a legislative legitimacy which will have no option but to challenge the supremacy of the House of Commons. Further reading
Also with the current setup the government can attract into government any number of talented individuals, essential to good legislation and the good governance of this country, who would normally not get involved in politics, electing its members will, without question, reduce the standard within the House of Lords at great damage to our democracy.
But, even if I could be convinced of the merits of directly electing the House of Lords which will increase costs by
@Quinn64 Double the size of the Commons, reduce it by 100 maybe, go to: http://t.co/neLWgpx3 to carry on the debate on #House_of_Lords.
[…] of a Twitter conversation with Helene Tyrrell and should be read in conjunction with the post Politics, Democracy and the House of Lords Reform Proposals, I like to carry on some conversations this way when the conversations are with quality people who […]