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| Lords must reduce number of 'passengers', says Lord Speaker | Lords must reduce number of 'passengers', says Lord Speaker |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| The House of Lords needs to reduce the number of “passengers” who contribute little to the upper house, an issue caused in part by the mass creation of life peers under Tony Blair and David Cameron, the Lord Speaker, Norman Fowler has said. | The House of Lords needs to reduce the number of “passengers” who contribute little to the upper house, an issue caused in part by the mass creation of life peers under Tony Blair and David Cameron, the Lord Speaker, Norman Fowler has said. |
| Fowler, the Thatcher-era cabinet minister who has been Speaker for the past two years, is at the centre of efforts to slim down what he still believes is a bloated chamber, from its current near-800 to a planned ceiling of 600. | Fowler, the Thatcher-era cabinet minister who has been Speaker for the past two years, is at the centre of efforts to slim down what he still believes is a bloated chamber, from its current near-800 to a planned ceiling of 600. |
| In an interview with the Guardian, Fowler said that while the majority of peers contributed significantly to the chamber, factors such as a lack of screening for political appointees meant some new arrivals had little idea of what was entailed. | In an interview with the Guardian, Fowler said that while the majority of peers contributed significantly to the chamber, factors such as a lack of screening for political appointees meant some new arrivals had little idea of what was entailed. |
| “You do have extraordinary cases where people have come in and after a few days they’ve come to the conclusion that, actually they’re in the wrong place doing the wrong thing – or rather not doing the wrong thing,” he said. “And the last thing we want in the House of Lords is passengers.” | “You do have extraordinary cases where people have come in and after a few days they’ve come to the conclusion that, actually they’re in the wrong place doing the wrong thing – or rather not doing the wrong thing,” he said. “And the last thing we want in the House of Lords is passengers.” |
| Blair created 374 life peers during his premiership, while Cameron ennobled 260 people – as against fewer than 40 each by Gordon Brown and, so far, Theresa May. | Blair created 374 life peers during his premiership, while Cameron ennobled 260 people – as against fewer than 40 each by Gordon Brown and, so far, Theresa May. |
| Asked if such an influx diluted the quality of the Lords, Fowler said: “It’s partly unfair, because there were some good people who came in. What I think is fair to say is that on that, as with other appointments, there was no process in which they came before a commission and it was explained to a prospective new peer what was involved in the job.” | Asked if such an influx diluted the quality of the Lords, Fowler said: “It’s partly unfair, because there were some good people who came in. What I think is fair to say is that on that, as with other appointments, there was no process in which they came before a commission and it was explained to a prospective new peer what was involved in the job.” |
| The lingerie millionaire, made a Conservative life peer by David Cameron in 2015, has faced calls to step down after it emerged she missed almost 90% of sittings in the last parliamentary year. Lords records show she has spoken in the chamber three times in three years, and she is not a member of any committee. | |
| The former CBI head is a vocal supporter of Brexit – but does rather less in terms of shaping the nation in the Lords. Elevated in 2007 by Gordon Brown so he could be a junior business minister, Jones was initially busy in the Lords. But since 2014 he has spoken just six times. | |
| The former MEP and Labour junior minister became something of a poster child for Lords reform after it emerged he had claimed nearly £57,000 in allowances and expenses in a year, during which he spoke in the chamber just three times. In 2009 he had been suspended from the Lords for six months for offering to amend a bill in exchange for money. | |
| A former Conservative council leader who was made a peer in 1998, he was jailed for nine months in 2011 for claiming almost £14,000 for overnight stays in London when he was not in capital. Since then, he has spoken in the Lords five times, the last one in January 2016. | |
| Some argue that the patchy record of the Tory former minister – who spoke three times in 2018 – shows attendance is not everything. Lord Fowler notes that while Heseltine contributes rarely, when he does, “he made an extraordinarily good speech”, such as in recent Brexit debates. | |
| As Speaker, Fowler has led efforts to reduce numbers. The process, undertaken by consensus, involves encouraging peers to retire and limiting the number of new arrivals, and is already exceeding its targets. | As Speaker, Fowler has led efforts to reduce numbers. The process, undertaken by consensus, involves encouraging peers to retire and limiting the number of new arrivals, and is already exceeding its targets. |
| “I do think it is completely crazy that we have a system at the moment where the size of the House of Lords is totally open-ended,” Fowler said. “I know of no assembly in the western world, or any other world for that matter, where there isn’t a limit on the numbers. It isn’t a revolutionary thing to say.” | “I do think it is completely crazy that we have a system at the moment where the size of the House of Lords is totally open-ended,” Fowler said. “I know of no assembly in the western world, or any other world for that matter, where there isn’t a limit on the numbers. It isn’t a revolutionary thing to say.” |
| After a Christmas break, the Lords will be braced for another potential round of to-ing and fro-ing over Brexit legislation, as amendments shuttle between the houses. | After a Christmas break, the Lords will be braced for another potential round of to-ing and fro-ing over Brexit legislation, as amendments shuttle between the houses. |
| In June this process saw the government make concessions on the power of MPs to shape Brexit, after a series of defeats in the upper house. However, Fowler downplays the possible influence of the Lords: “It’s important that people don’t get over-excited about an amendment, because by the process of ping pong it goes back, obviously, to the House of Commons. | In June this process saw the government make concessions on the power of MPs to shape Brexit, after a series of defeats in the upper house. However, Fowler downplays the possible influence of the Lords: “It’s important that people don’t get over-excited about an amendment, because by the process of ping pong it goes back, obviously, to the House of Commons. |
| “Last time we were told we were destroying the legislation – we didn’t destroy it at all. All that the Lords did was say, ‘will you think again on this particular question?’ The Commons did and came to the same conclusion. | “Last time we were told we were destroying the legislation – we didn’t destroy it at all. All that the Lords did was say, ‘will you think again on this particular question?’ The Commons did and came to the same conclusion. |
| “It may be famous last words but I don’t think that it’s going to change the whole process itself. That process has got to be decided in the Commons.” | “It may be famous last words but I don’t think that it’s going to change the whole process itself. That process has got to be decided in the Commons.” |
| Fowler is speaking from his huge corner office in the Lords, formerly used by the lord chancellor, with double-height panelled walls and views directly on to the Thames. | Fowler is speaking from his huge corner office in the Lords, formerly used by the lord chancellor, with double-height panelled walls and views directly on to the Thames. |
| It is, he said, something of a contrast to his debut as an MP in 1970. “It’s taken something like 50 years to get to an office like this. The first office I ever had, I shared it with Ken Clarke on one side, John Prescott on the other and Cyril Smith at the end. It was over Boots the chemist. I’ve steadily come up the scale.” | It is, he said, something of a contrast to his debut as an MP in 1970. “It’s taken something like 50 years to get to an office like this. The first office I ever had, I shared it with Ken Clarke on one side, John Prescott on the other and Cyril Smith at the end. It was over Boots the chemist. I’ve steadily come up the scale.” |
| Leaning in the fireplace is a poster bearing the slogan “Aids: don’t die of ignorance,” a legacy of Fowler’s tenure as heath secretary, when the HIV crisis first gained prominence. | Leaning in the fireplace is a poster bearing the slogan “Aids: don’t die of ignorance,” a legacy of Fowler’s tenure as heath secretary, when the HIV crisis first gained prominence. |
| Fowler has since become a celebrated champion of LGBT rights, and briefly breaks his political neutrality to agree equal marriage should be extended to Northern Ireland: “I think it should be a United Kingdom process. It shouldn’t be a matter of debate any more.” | Fowler has since become a celebrated champion of LGBT rights, and briefly breaks his political neutrality to agree equal marriage should be extended to Northern Ireland: “I think it should be a United Kingdom process. It shouldn’t be a matter of debate any more.” |
| For all the advances on Aids – last month Labour MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle announced to the Commons that he was HIV positive but could live an entirely unaffected life – Fowler stresses the “total scandal” that almost a million people a year die still from the disease, mainly in poorer counties. | For all the advances on Aids – last month Labour MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle announced to the Commons that he was HIV positive but could live an entirely unaffected life – Fowler stresses the “total scandal” that almost a million people a year die still from the disease, mainly in poorer counties. |
| “When I have finished with this job, it is one of the things that I intend to return to, for the years that are left, to campaign on that,” he said. | “When I have finished with this job, it is one of the things that I intend to return to, for the years that are left, to campaign on that,” he said. |
| Fowler also said some attitudes remained stuck in the past. “There has been a substantial change,” he said. “It hasn’t been total. I had the other day a peer who came up to me after a series of question before World Aids Day, and said, ‘you know, in my view it’s just all self-inflicted.’ And you think, ‘really?’” | Fowler also said some attitudes remained stuck in the past. “There has been a substantial change,” he said. “It hasn’t been total. I had the other day a peer who came up to me after a series of question before World Aids Day, and said, ‘you know, in my view it’s just all self-inflicted.’ And you think, ‘really?’” |
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