LORDS HAVE ‘LESS LEGITIMACY’

ON TERROR LAW

Paul Tyler, Liberal Democrat Shadow Leader of the House, today (Thursday) attacked the Government for undermining the House of Commons by taking amendments to the Prevention of Terrorism Bill in the Lords.  “Is not the Government treating the Commons with contempt and yet the Lords with consideration?”

Speaking in the House of Commons, Mr Tyler reminded Leader of the House,         Peter Hain, that Ministers “frequently say that there are problems with the legitimacy of the Lords” and yet the Lords now had the “main discussions” on important legislation.

In response, the Leader of the House said that Paul Tyler had raised “a perfectly fair point” and admitted it would have been “desirable” to meet with the two Opposition Party leaders earlier to establish consensus. 

Speaking after the exchange, Mr Tyler exclaimed, “Mr Hain is playing politics with our vital freedoms and what is more, he’s playing badly.  There is clearly a split in the Government.  Peter Hain worked for years to secure freedom for the people of South Africa from measures of the very nature the Home Secretary is now proposing for British citizens.  But he cannot shrug of responsibility in this way.  After three years of calls from the Liberal Democrats to address problems with the original Terrorism Act of 2001,       Mr Hain cannot possibly say that the present quite unacceptable situation, which has seen the British people once again have to rely on an unelected body to secure their fundamental freedoms, is the fault of Parliament.

“Time and again we are told by Ministers that the Lords are a less legitimate House, yet this week we have seen them defer to unelected Peers to decide whether we, the British people, should be allowed to walk free from the fear of being locked up in their own homes, without trial.”

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A cross party group of senior MPs – comprising Kenneth Clarke, Robin Cook, Dr Tony Wright, Sir George Young and Paul Tyler – recently published a report Reforming the House of Lords:  Breaking the Deadlock examining all the options available to bring legitimacy to the Lords and proposing a 70% elected House.  They have presented a Second Chamber of Parliament Bill to the House of Commons, to enact the proposals. 

Peter Hain called the Report “impressive” and said the Government would consider it seriously.

“If Tony Blair’s first recourse over our freedoms is to the Lords then he should have the decency to give the people their preference on who sits there.  Perhaps that is one freedom he can give us, even if insists on systematically striping away all the rest.”

ENDS