House of Lords Bill [HL]

My Lords, therefore, whatever it concludes will be subject to the same level of criticism as anything else that appears from the ether without a good pedigree. This Bill reflects the capacity of all parts of your Lordships' House to collaborate in the best national interest. I express my gratitude to the noble Lord, Lord Steel, for his endeavours to bring us together. The bigger issues concerning House of Lords reform which preoccupy some will meander along at an appropriately slow pace, still directed by my right honourable friend Jack Straw, albeit in a different manifestation from when he made his last endeavours as Leader of the House. However, the pace of change is too slow for many of the radical Members of your Lordships’ House, who are impatient for its reform and change. We cannot await the leisurely approach of Mr Straw hoping that he can produce a grand solution; we want change more rapidly: we want it now and to have effect. We cannot wait for the House that Jack plans to build. We want something real and of substance now. Action is therefore needed. This Bill provides the basis for action on which the overwhelming majority can agree. It does not close off any future deliberations or ideas should perchance Mr Straw come up with some which he thinks will command a majority. He still has every opportunity to pursue them. However, here and now we can do several things, and I do not think that any sensible person would object to the statutory appointments commission as the sole source of new peerages and the right to sit in a second Chamber. On that basis, it is axiomatic that the hereditary principle that Governments have tried to grapple with over many years will disappear. The other two major provisions in the Bill are common sense, and I do not think that I need to detain your Lordships' House any longer, other than to commend them to the House. I congratulate the noble Lord on his endeavours and hope that we will make progress. I look forward to hearing very clearly from my noble friend on the Front Bench the intentions of the Government.