The Government’s Bill to remove the remaining 92 hereditary peers, fulfilling a commitment in Labour’s election manifesto, has come under sustained atack from the Conservative Party in the Lords. A considerable amount of time has been taken up by its numerous hostile amendments to what is a short Bill. Alistair Lexden does not support its aggressive approach, as he explained in a letter published in The Spectator on 26 April.
Sir: It would be good to keep the much-admired 3rd Viscount Stansgate and the other remaining hereditary peers in the Lords by giving them life peerages as Charles Moore suggests (Notes, 5 April). The government may have a plan which it is keeping in reserve. The prospects of compromise have not, however, been enhanced by the party political battles that broke out during prolonged and sometimes bitter discussion of other changes to the composition and work of the Lords that have nothing to do with the 92 hereditaries who remained after the Blair purge. Matters will only get worse if further argument between the government and the Conservatives rages during the final stages of the legislation. The government should call together the leaders of the various groups in the Lords, with the aim of replacing acrimony with agreement. The view of the 180-strong crossbenchers, who back sensible compromise, would be particularly important.
Alistair Lexden
House of Lords, London SW1
