‘Smug’ peers told they risk drawing public contempt

PEERS have been warned by the deputy leader of the Lords that they risk drifting into “public contempt” without reform of the Upper House.

Lord McNally, stressing the need for change, hit out against a House of Lords “self confidently smug about its own rectitude”.

And, at question time yesterday, he urged peers to proceed with “dignity and responsibility” in developing a chamber fit for the 21st century.

Lord McNally’s warning came after a committee yesterday backed plans for a slimmed-down Lords, 80 per cent elected, each serving a single 15-year term, but said that the reforms should be put to a referendum.

The cross-party panel of 26 MPs and peers was deeply split on several issues, with 12 members signing an alternative report calling for the establishment of a Constitutional Convention to assess the implications of change.

With a Lords reform bill expected to be a centrepiece of the 9 May Queen’s Speech, the scene is set for months of bitter wrangling.

As the issue surfaced yesterday in the Lords ahead of a full-scale debate next Monday, Lord McNally insisted the status quo was not an option.