Cabinet divisions over the future shape of the House of Lords were exposed yesterday when the Lord Chancellor, Lord Irvine of Lairg, insisted that the current plans were not a "dead duck".

Lord Irvine's intervention followed reports that the government had gone back to the drawing board following widespread opposition to plans which would see just one peer in four being elected.

Robin Cook has said that the government accepts the criticism of the current plans and is said to believe that the elected element of the reformed second chamber should be substantially higher than that currently being proposed.

However, the Times reports that Irvine has all but disowned the proposals.