Reform of both Houses needed

Whatever the reasons behind the Lords delaying an elected government’s mandate on welfare reforms, the Lib-Dems seem to have forgotten they oppose the very existence of the ‘undemocratic, unelected Lords’ – one they recently filled with yet more rejected Lib-Dem MPs and MEPs to the extent they are now grossly over-represented.

They should do the honourable thing and self-sacrifice!

Yes, reform of both Houses is needed.

Balanced constituencies (blocked by the Lib-Dems) but, with our rocketing population growth, we actually need more MPs for greater democratic representation.

If we abolished party whips, the Upper House would become largely redundant for its function is to scrutinise, test and moderate the knee-jerk legalisation demanded by whipped MPs.

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The (reduced) Upper House must be an impartial, worldly-wise body free of laterally-promoted politicians.

It alone is well suited to PR (not AV) to a maximum 50 per cent, the remainder being a-political representatives of the British people: workers, farmers, judges, bishops, disabled, industrialists, doctors, hereditary peers, pensioners... all selected on merit, not political correctness.

Much overlooked in this welfare-debacle is it being presented as a Statutory Instrument (SI).

SIs are designed to bypass parliament (unless observant MPs choose to intervene) and highlight the dilemma parliament faces as the vast majority of its areas of jurisdiction were surrendered to the EU as ‘EU Competences’ through which thousands of pieces of minor legislation are introduced annually by default through SIs or automatic EU Regulations.

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Hence the more honest ‘about 70 per cent-80 per cent of our laws derive from the EU’ over the Lib-Dems ‘only seven per cent’ (ie: Acts of Parliament which introduce gold-plated EU Directives as ‘UK law’).

As Nick Perry (Lib-Dem) rightly says (30/10/15) ‘the people should know’ – so perhaps he will respond to: “What is the EU/Lib-Dems’ proposal to defeating ISIL and ending the refugee crisis?”

Barry M Jones

Bixley Lane

Beckley

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