Thursday, February 1, 2007

Labour seeks to reform House of Lords - Episode 948

Jack Straw is having another go at getting some form of Lords reform through the Commons.

Thrill of all thrills, he is doing via a sort of PR-type preference vote.

How many stabs do Labour need at this? Already, the late Robin Cook worked long enough on this escapade to fill half a book of his memoirs.

If you believe in democracy, the answer is simple: have a fully elected second chamber.

It is not rocket science. Indeed, the founding fathers in the USA sorted it out in a few weeks over two hundred years ago. The US Senate has been a model of second chambers.

So why all the elongated ten-year kerfuffle by Labour? In simple terms, as a party, they don't believe in democracy. I am sure many of their politicians and members do. But you only have to look at Tony Blair to see someone who does not fully embrace democracy. If he did, there would have been a fully elected second chamber set up years ago.

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