Former cabinet minister Jack Cunningham and the political veteran Lord Howe have set out plans for the second stage of parliament's constitutional reform.

Their joint committee said that MPs and peers must decide on a menu of options for House of Lords reform.

Insisting that both Houses of Parliament should decide on the future of the Lords, Cunningham and Howe set out seven options for MPs and peers.

At one end of the spectrum a 100 per cent elected Lords is on offer.

The possibility of keeping a fully appointed second chamber remains - although the basis for patronage is set to shift from party politics to an independent system.

A reformed chamber is likely to cost £200 million a year to run, three times as much as the existing system.