House of Lords Reform (No. 2) Bill

Martin Vickers Excerpts

Friday 18th October 2013 Commons Chamber

[Martin Vickers (Cleethorpes) (Con)]

I join others in congratulating my hon. Friend the Member for North Warwickshire (Dan Byles) on bringing forward the Bill. I only hope that it does not meet the fate of other Bills that have entered this famous Bermuda triangle. I am completely in favour of reform of the House of Lords; I would support an all-elected Chamber. Strangely enough, though, had I been here in the late 1990s, when the Blair Government made their reforms, I would have opposed virtually every proposal.

It is perhaps strange for someone who considers themselves a traditional Conservative to want this sort of reform. My hon. Friend the Member for Bury North (Mr Nuttall) mentioned that he was against reform, full stop. I am sure that he did not quite mean that, and that he supports the education and welfare reforms, and all the other wonderful things that the Government are bringing forward.

Much has been said about the talented people on the House of Lords Benches, and indeed they are talented. My hon. Friend the Member for Gainsborough (Sir Edward Leigh) mentioned the issue of geographical spread; it is certainly more likely that a distinguished surgeon from Kensington will find themselves on the red Benches than a distinguished surgeon from Cleethorpes or Gainsborough.

As I am speaking to a packed House—about 2% of this House’s membership is here—it is perhaps unfair to criticise those in the other place for non-attendance, but it is a fair assumption that if a person is appointed to the legislature, whether as an honour or because they are distinguished in a particular field, they should make a significant contribution. I disagree with my hon. Friend the Member for Gainsborough on this issue; 10-yearly appearances would be spreading things a little bit too thin.

Let me turn to the measures on conviction of serious offences. I should tread carefully here, because a Member of the upper House who formerly represented Cleethorpes has spent some time at Her Majesty’s pleasure. I hope that is not a precedent for those who follow him. It is reasonable to say that those convicted of criminal offences should be barred from the upper House. The electorate would expect that. There is an argument about prisoners’ votes, and there is perhaps a connection with that issue.

My hon. Friend the Member for Gainsborough spoke about the slowness of constitutional change. That is, to some extent, a virtue, but there are limits to how slow change should be. We have been considering change in one form or another for more than a century, so it would not be unreasonable for us to move forward rather rapidly. I support the Bill. I hope that there is more reform to come, and that we do not have to wait another century for radical reform of the upper House.