A couple of months ago I got into a debate over the House of Lords. During which I was told that I was wrong, and that the House of Lords was a magnificent institution which had a higher level of debate than ‘the other place,’ or the House of Commons to you and me. And why would this be you may wonder? Well, according to my opponent, because the Lords are not elected, they can afford to scrutinise legislation without worrying about their position. They can be free of party ties and the party whips and can therefore ensure that legislation is to a higher standard than otherwise.
And this, my opponent claimed, was the reason for the volume of bills that were sent back to the Commons under the Labour years. At which my glib response was to mention the Dangerous Dogs Act, which is now a total dogs dinner, and wasn’t held up in the Lords to the extent that any second chamber worthy of its salt would have done.
Anyway, I was reminded of this conversation today on hearing the news that the ConDem government has managed to sail through the tuition fee legislation through the Lords. The debate lasted four hours and the Government won the vote with 283 for and 215 against.
Now let us be clear here. I am not necessarily saying that the new tuition fees legislation is bad law, in the way that the Dangerous Dogs act was and still is. And whether the Government should be doing it is another question. But last nights vote really does highlight that Tory Governments find the House of Lords a much more amenable chamber than Labour ones ever have done. It would be very interesting indeed to find our how much more legislation is sent back from the Lords under Labour, compared to the Tories?
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/welsh-politics/welsh-politics-news/2010/12/15/labour-peers-fail-to-block-rise-in-england-s-tuition-fees-91466-27827779/
http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE6BD5TO20101215
And this, my opponent claimed, was the reason for the volume of bills that were sent back to the Commons under the Labour years. At which my glib response was to mention the Dangerous Dogs Act, which is now a total dogs dinner, and wasn’t held up in the Lords to the extent that any second chamber worthy of its salt would have done.
Anyway, I was reminded of this conversation today on hearing the news that the ConDem government has managed to sail through the tuition fee legislation through the Lords. The debate lasted four hours and the Government won the vote with 283 for and 215 against.
Now let us be clear here. I am not necessarily saying that the new tuition fees legislation is bad law, in the way that the Dangerous Dogs act was and still is. And whether the Government should be doing it is another question. But last nights vote really does highlight that Tory Governments find the House of Lords a much more amenable chamber than Labour ones ever have done. It would be very interesting indeed to find our how much more legislation is sent back from the Lords under Labour, compared to the Tories?
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/welsh-politics/welsh-politics-news/2010/12/15/labour-peers-fail-to-block-rise-in-england-s-tuition-fees-91466-27827779/
http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE6BD5TO20101215
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