House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) (Abolition of By-Elections) Bill [HL]

Well, I will give the answer—and I hope that Members will give their answers during their speeche...

My Lords, as a hereditary Peer I have a brief say at the beginning of this debate. We have a long...

My Lords, as the noble Lord, Lord Grocott, has said, this Bill is very similar, if not identical,...

My Lords, I have noticed that the most ardent defenders of the status quo are certain noble Lords...

I would have to reflect on that question before I answered it.

My Lords, against the backgr...

My Lords, I shall begin by making it clear that there is nothing ad hominem about this debate. We...

My Lords, “It feels like ‘Groundhog Day’,” is an expression that is bound to be used as we debate...

I am grateful to the noble Lord for giving way. Does he think it significant, as the previous spe...

I am grateful for that intervention; that is a highly significant point. It is very clear that so...

I thank the noble Lord for giving way. The noble Lord, Lord Rennard, was, like me, appointed to t...

The noble Lord considers it a whim—I suspect many other noble Lords would disagree. There are at ...

My Lords, I rise to support the Bill, moved so ably and wittily by my noble friend Lord Grocott. ...

I am grateful to my noble friend for giving way. Can he tell the House whether he would like to e...

I was going to refer to the noble Lord, Lord Snape, as my noble friend, but I am not sure whether...

Something original?

Something original to say—

Something witty?

Something witty to say in our speeches. My noble friend Lord Grocott has some help to do that, al...

Five minutes!

Previous speakers have gone on even longer. Turning to the Bill, I will just say that I strongly ...

My Lords, the noble Lord has got a whole series of different complaints which are not relevant to...

My Lords, I regret the introduction of the Bill, but not as much as I regret the fact that we hav...

My Lords—

No, I listened to the noble Lord for 12 minutes and I only have five.

The noble Lord, Lord ...

My Lords, I support the Bill. The House should be very grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Grocott, ...

My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Grocott, introduced the Bill with his customary wit and made an ex...

My Lords, when I was elected one of the 90 in 1999, I never supposed that I would still be here 1...

My Lords, I only wish that other noble Lords were prepared to give that same assurance. We might ...

Surely the effect of an election is that you sort out the best candidates.

I am not wholly sure that that is always the position in the House of Commons, and, given the sma...

My Lords, I speak as an elected hereditary Peer. I was elected not by my party but by the whole H...

My Lords, I, too, begin by applauding the hard work of hereditary Peers in this House, such as my...

My Lords, I am in favour of reform of the methods of getting into the House of Lords, but this Bi...

My Lords, there are two main premises to this Bill. The first is that the hereditary Peers’ by-el...

Does the noble Lord agree with me that it would be appropriate for Members to pay attention to th...

My Lords, I am most grateful to the noble Lord for his comments, as I always am. I will pass them...

It is Questions that should not be read, not speeches.

My Lords, I do not wish to get involved in that debate. The one initiated by the noble Lord, Lord...

My Lords, as an elected hereditary Peer who voted for the passage of the House of Lords Act 1999,...

Following those arguments, does the noble Viscount think that we should have more hereditary Peer...

My Lords, as I mentioned, I voted for the passage of the House of Lords Act as a reasonable compr...

My Lords, I join noble Lords on both sides of the House in congratulating my noble friend on brin...

My Lords, I am too polite to return the noble Lord’s words to him, but his entertaining speech ra...

My Lords, I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Grocott, very sincerely on his persistence and on h...

For a second time, it is my pleasure to congratulate my noble friend on the Bill and to give it a...

Does the noble Baroness subscribe to the view of the noble Lord, Lord Pannick, that our births we...

Well, we are all here by that way.

This is an appointed House: it just depends on the centu...

Can the noble Baroness deal with the point made by my noble friend Lord True? Should this Bill go...

I have answered that. I said a few moments ago that it has already been done because of the numbe...

My Lords, it is good to start this season of Private Members’ Bills with a traditional number—one...

So would I.

The committee has been asked to examine practical and politically viable options for reducing the...

My Lords, I am grateful to all noble Lords who have contributed to the debate and massively grate...

My Lords, I was not displaying nostalgia; I was reflecting upon the very real fact that the natur...

I advise the noble Lord to stop digging. This wondrous independence and spirit of quality and int...

Will my noble friend accept the perception of my views at that time? He has come along very well ...

I saw no arguments in favour of the by-elections, apart from the one that I really want to put to...