Member News
These factors put together may even mark the beginning of the dissolution of this House,
Baroness D'Souza
Labour has been accused by crossbench peers of risking the very future of the House of Lords by deliberately delaying the passage of the Parliamentary Voting and Constituencies Bill, as the government indicates it may be willing to make concessions.
Baroness D'Souza, the convener of the non-party political crossbenches, said this afternoon that the tactics deployed by Labour in opposing the Bill were bringing the Lords "into disrepute".
The House of Lords has reached something of an impasse as so far the government and the opposition have been unable to trash out a deal that would see the legislation pass.
Many Labour peers oppose the plan to cut the size of the Commons and re-draw the electoral map and have been accused of delaying, or filibustering, the Bill by speaking at length about barely relevant topics.
Speaking in the Lords chamber this afternoon D'Souza said many of the contributions by Labour peers to the debates had not represented "sensible revision" and were obviously intended to scupper the coalition's plan to hold a referendum on changing the voting system on May 5.
"We are therefore forced to believe it is the intention for the Opposition to delay this Bill beyond the date it would be reasonable to hold a referendum," she said.
The flagship legislation needs to be passed by February 16 if a referendum is to be held on May 5 as the Electoral Commission has ruled that it needs three months to prepare for the vote.
It is rare for the crossbenches to speak with one voice, sitting as they do as non-party political members, and her intervention highlights the level of worry about the potential damage the standoff may do to the standing of the upper chamber in its present form.
D'Souza warned both the government and Opposition benches that such was the strength of feeling about the risk to the legitimacy of the House of Lords they were "perhaps for once acting as a group" and called for "significant compromises" from both sides.
She said the tactics employed by the Labour peers "fly in the face of conventions that have governed this House for the last six decades" and brought the House of Lords "into disrepute".
And she said that if Labour was successful in its apparent bid to derail the referendum Opposition parties would be encouraged to deploy similar tactics in the future.
"These factors put together may even mark the beginning of the dissolution of this House," she said.
"Why would the public let alone the other place choose to support a chamber which is seen to be deeply unserious."
Her comments came at the start of an almost unprecedented 12th day in a row of scrutiny of the Bill.
Lord Strathclyde, the leader of the House of Lords, told peers at the start of business today that there was "not another example of a bill that has taken more than 11 days in recent years".
"It is not good for this House or the legislative process across Parliament to assign an infinite amount of time the passage off a particular bill," he said.
And the Tory peer indicated the government may be willing to make some concession in order to see its legislation pass in time for a referendum to be held on May 5
He said hew was "open to changes" to the Bill but not changes that would "undermine the fundamental purpose of the Bill agreed at second reading".
Labour's Lord Falconer said hew as "ready and willing to talk" to the government about a way forward and that the Opposition stood ready for "constructive and positive discussions".
Have your say...
Please enter your comments below.