Fowler: time to kick out ‘passengers’ from Lords
SOME members of the House of Lords are “passengers” – and up to 200 of them should be kicked out, according to the Birmingham politician who oversees Lords debates.
Norman Fowler, the former MP for Sutton Coldfield, has begun a new high-profile role as Lord Speaker.
It means he oversees proceedings in the Lords chamber and represents the House of Lords at official events.
But he has warned that there are too many people in the House of Lords, which has around 825 members eligible to take part.
There are just 650 MPs in the House of Commons, and this is set to be reduced to 600 before the next election.
Lord Fowler also admitted some members of the Lords were not pulling their weight.
He said: “There are – how should I put it? – a few passengers. I don’t disagree with that. But the characteristic of the Lords is that it’s hardworking and conscientious.
“At the moment, the size of the House hangs over it like a cloud, so anything you do, it always comes back to ‘aren’t you too big?’ etc. If you get rid of the ‘too big’ argument, perhaps the public and politicians can concentrate on what we actually do, which I think is fundamentally important.”
And he admitted: “I don’t think that we can justify a situation where you have over 800 peers at the same time as you’re bringing down the Commons to 600 MPs. The principle, it seems to me, is that we should have fewer Lords. We should certainly not have more peers than there are Members of Parliament. I think that’s a principle that would probably find agreement amongst most of the House.”
Members of the House of Lords can claim an allowance of either £300 a day or £150 a day – it is their choice – but only if they take part in proceedings such as debates or sitting on a committee. They are not paid a salary, unless they also have another role such as being a government minister.
About 700 members are life peers, chosen by the Prime Minister or other party leaders. There are 26 Church of England archbishops and bishops in the House of Lords and 92 hereditary peers.
Lord Fowler was MP for Sutton Coldfield from 1994 to 2001, and was a member of the Cabinet in the governments of John Major and Margaret Thatcher.
There are – how should I put it? – a few passengers. Lord Fowler