The government yesterday announced plans for a joint committee of MPs and peers to devise options for the reform of the House of Lords.

Options, which can range from a fully-nominated to a fully-elected chamber, will then be put to a free vote in both houses.

This decision replaces the Royal Commission and the resulting white paper, which backed a 20 per cent elected membership of the Lords, after both opposition parties called for a higher proportion.

"We must not allow a repeat of past history in which reform has been delayed because those who wanted it could not agree and therefore left the field to those who opposed it," said Robin Cook, leader of the Commons.

Both the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats welcomed the change, but claimed that it would further delay reform.

"Is this going to be a Groundhog Day procedure where we revisit this again for the rest of our parliamentary lives?" asked shadow leader, Eric Forth.