Lords warned they could be scrapped over Brexit blocking
Frank Field to propose chamber’s abolition as anger at peers’ defiance of Commons’ stance grows
A CONCERTED campaign to dramatically overhaul the House of Lords will begin in earnest this week, as peers launch a second attempt at watering down Brexit legislation.
Tomorrow, as the Withdrawal Bill returns to the upper chamber, MPs will use a Commons debate to criticise its perceived attempts to thwart the UK’s exit from the European Union.
The debate was prompted by a public petition which voiced fears that peers were wielding a “disproportion- ate amount of influence and power” to frustrate the Commons.
On Tuesday Frank Field, the former Labour minister, has been allocated Commons time to introduce a Bill that would scrap the House as it currently exists and replace it with a hybrid senate of experts and elected representatives from across the country. Mr Field says an attempt by peers to “defy” the Commons by reinstating a series of amendments rejected by MPs, would amount to an “act of insurrection”.
The MP, who supported the proBrexit campaign, said he would be seeking the Government’s support for the move “in readiness” for peers preventing “good passage of the Bill implementing the referendum decision”.
Last night senior Conservative backbenchers said they would support a radical overhaul of the chamber, while a senior minister warned that a further that in all circumstances parliamentarians can express their views, while respecting the tests set by the Prime Minister and allowing the Government to deliver on the referendum result.
The House of Lords has an important role as a scrutinising and revising chamber, but one that respects the primacy of the elected House of Commons.
So, I urge my colleagues across the House to support the Government’s new amendment to ensure Parliament has a meaningful say. Now is the moment to back the Prime Minister as she negotiates for a new deep and special partnership with the EU.
Baroness Evans is the Leader of the House of Lords attempt by peers to impose major changes would be a “kamikaze” move. A pro-Leave government source added: “I think there’s now a settled consensus in the Commons that we are well past the point at which the Lords needed to be reformed. It has got to be substantially reduced and then started again. There will be an enormous amount of support for Frank Field’s position.”
Iain Duncan Smith, the former Tory leader, said: “I’m with Frank – it is high time for major reform. This time around has shown an abuse beyond anything we have seen before. They are just behaving atrociously – and some of the worst behaviour has been from Conservative peers.”
Mr Duncan Smith suggested that reform could be achieved relatively quickly by stripping voting rights from large numbers of peers appointed by parties – including those who are defying the Government whip over the Brexit legislation.
Jacob Rees-Mogg, the chairman of the European Research Group of Eurosceptic Tory backbenchers, said Parliament should enshrine into law codes such as the Salisbury-Addison convention, which prevents the Lords from blocking manifesto commitments.
Writing in The Sunday Telegraph, Mr Field, states: “The Tory leadership in the House of Lords hasn’t yet ruled out the prospect of Peers overturning the will of the House of Commons when the Brexit bill returns to them this week.
“To defy the elected House once is a misfortune. To defy it twice, particularly when this is about implementing the result of a referendum, is an act of insurrection. The Commons must act. One of the many good side-effects of Brexit should be the abolition of the upper House and its replacement by a much smaller senate.”
Tomorrow, peers are expected to reinstate an amendment to the Withdrawal Bill by Viscount Hailsham, a Tory peer, giving Parliament the power to dictate the terms of the Brexit negotiations if a deal with Europe is rejected or if a “no deal” Brexit is proposed. The effect of this, Eurosceptics say, would be to “stop Brexit”. The Government has tabled a compromise amendment which it is trying to persuade proRemain rebels to back in the Commons on Wednesday.