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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Politics
Dave Burke

House of Lords could be scrapped under Labour government in huge shakeup

The House of Lords could be scrapped under a Labour government - with a massive shake-up being weighed up by party bosses.

Leaked draft documents reveal that a review led by former PM Gordon Brown has recommended assembly of regions and nations set up instead.

The Mirror has long campaigned for the unelected House of Lords to be abolished, and Labour pledged to do so in its 2019 manifesto.

Under the proposals - which Labour said are still being considered - tax powers and increased authority for mayors on issues such as education and transport will be devolved.

Mr Brown has also suggested that members of the public could be called up as jurors - selected by a ballot - to rule on MPs and ministers accused of wrongdoing.

Do you think the House of Lords should be scrapped? Let us know what you think in the comments below

Former PM Gordon Brown has recommended scrapping the House of Lords (Getty Images)

His recommendations also include a ban on most second jobs for MPs, The Guardian reports - a measure that Keir Starmer has already backed.

Mr Brown, who held the top office between 2007 and 2010, has also called for new codes of conduct to replace the ministerial code, and for the electoral commission to be able to dish out bigger fines.

Measures under consideration also include allowing local democratically elected bodies to promote Bills in Parliament - which supporters say will give citizens a constitutional guarantee of social and economic rights.

Labour did not deny the report - but stressed that the commission's work is ongoing.

A Labour spokesperson said: "This refers to one of several early drafts. The commission has yet to take a view on all these issues."

Party leader Mr Starmer commissioned Mr Brown to lead the review into possible reforms last September - with the outcome likely to be unveiled later this year.

There has been strong feeling about the Lords for many years.

Labour vowed to abolish the Lords in its 2019 manifesto, while Mr Starmer mentioned it in his 2020 leadership bid.

Scottish party leader Anas Sarwar last year said it was "unacceptable" that "unelected representatives" have so much power.

Mr Sarwar told a Westminster audience: “The House of Lords, in its current form, is an institution that has no place in 21st-century politics.

“It is unacceptable, and has been for far too long, to have unelected representatives wielding such power.

“The House of Lords must be abolished and replaced with an institution which better reflects the make-up and the identity of the United Kingdom.”

Keir Starmer has previously said that House of Lords reform was being looked at (UK PARLIAMENT/AFP via Getty Imag)

Mr Starmer previously told the BBC's Andrew Marr show that Mr Brown was leading work into House of Lords reform, saying: “We certainly need change in the House of Lords.

“What I’ve done, Andrew, is I’ve set up a commission to look at the future of the UK, including the institutions such as the House of Lords.

"Gordon Brown is leading that and I’ll look at it.”

Plans to overhaul the House of Lords are likely to prove popular with the public - with a 2020 survey showing seven out of 10 backed changes.

It came after then-PM Boris Johnson sent another batch of cronies to the red benches.

He dispatched another 36 peers to the packed Upper Chamber that summer – despite claiming to support reform, meaning the bulging House now has nearly 800 members.

Support among the public for the status quo is at a paltry 12%, according to a Survation poll for the Electoral Reform Society.

Some 43% are in favour of the Lords being partially or entirely elected and another 28% want it scrapped altogether.

Electoral Reform Society chief executive Darren Hughes said at the time: “The public are clear – they are sick to the back teeth of the bare-faced cronyism and political patronage that plagues the unelected House of Lords.

“The Prime Minister’s latest round of appointees represented yet another batch of political allies and financial backers getting handed lifetime seats in the Lords.

“Voters are rightly backing urgent reform.

“The high support for abolition should be a wake-up call for parties and peers to back real change before these calls grow louder.

“It is now urgent – for the sake of our democracy – that we move to a proportionally-elected revising chamber, where voters decide who votes on our laws, not the Prime Minister.”

The online survey of 1,005 British adults found 72% of Tory voters at last year's general election favoured abolition or election, with 29% percent in favour of axing it and 43% wanting election in part or in full.

Just 14% of Conservative voters favoured the status quo.

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