Foulkes puts peer pressure on a revised House of Lords

LOTHIANS MSP and Labour peer George Foulkes has dropped his call for abolition of the House of Lords.

He now says he favours a fully-elected second chamber elected by proportional representation.

And he also wants to see compulsory voting, votes for 16-year-olds, a written constitution, and an English parliament.

Lord Foulkes said: "We must reform the unrepresentative House of Lords. I voted for abolition when I was a member of the House of Commons. However, after further discussion and consideration, I am now in favour of a 100 per cent elected second chamber at Westminster, on the clear understanding that the second chamber be kept as a revising legislature.

"The second chamber could be elected under proportional representation and the single transferable vote could be used with, ideally, a third of the membership changing at every election."

He said a written constitution would be needed to define the respective powers of the two chambers.

"I am also in favour of voting taking place over the weekend. Why do we vote on a Thursday? Except for historical precedent, there is no logical reason."