Goodbye to the Lords... hello to the Senate - but Brown's reform plans could run out of time

Daily Mail ^ | 06/10/2009 | James Chapman

[C19fan]

Plans to sweep away 1,000 years of history by replacing the House of Lords with an elected senate will be unveiled within weeks.

Gordon Brown vowed yesterday to complete reform of the Lords, which has been stalled for several years.

The Prime Minister will seek agreement from other parties on a move to a wholly or largely elected second chamber. The move would mean hundreds of peers being axed and elections introduced to the upper house for the first time.

[C19fan]

What a spiteful man Gordo is. He reminds me of Hitler in the sense that since he knows his days are numbered he is going to take the UK down with him. How can the UK electorate tolerate this man and Nu Labour that seems intent on using the wrecking ball to destroy British traditions, institution and history.

[Army Air Corps]

What a smegging twit.

[Reagan Man]

Brown putting dumb ideas in Obama’s head.

[Gay State Conservative]

Watched PM Questions today.Cameron called it like it is.All of a sudden Brown wants to “reform” Britain’s election process.What a whore Brown is.They're gonna have to call the riot squad to drag him out of Number 10.

[mgstarr]

[thecabal]

So I assume that the intent is similar to the 17th Amendment to the US Constitution, to try to push things towards a more “direct democracy” AKA mob rule.

[ConorMacNessa]

So, what do you suppose they'll call the House of Commons once Commons can serve in the former House of Lords?

Lamh Foistenach Abu!

[KoRn]

"So I assume that the intent is similar to the 17th Amendment to the US Constitution, to try to push things towards a more “direct democracy” AKA mob rule."

The direct election of US Senators here appears to have turned out to be a disaster for our country.

[Nervous Tick]

>> What a smegging twit.

Smegging... That anything like “producing smegma”?

On the other hand (so to speak!) you gotta wonder about a man with so precious little political capital attempting such a blatantly self-serving stunt.

Just go away quietly, Gordie.

[GOPGuide]

Is there any hope he can be toppled by a vote of no confidence?

[thecabal]

Exactly.

[Army Air Corps]

It is a word from the TV series Red Dwarf.

[Nervous Tick]

The direct election of US Senators here appears to have turned out to be a disaster for our country.

Seriously? You really BELIEVE that? How come?

[Iron Munro]

They think they have trouble now?

Wait until they get a Senate like ours.

[Nervous Tick]

Explanation of "smeg" and its derivative sords, for anyone interested...

[C19fan]

Is there any hope he can be toppled by a vote of no confidence?

It appears Gordo has survivied the thumping Labour took in the recent council and European Parliamentary elections. Labour has enough of a lead in the House of Commons to defeat any motion of no confidence and the Labour backbenchers have no interest in calling an election in which they are guaranteed to lose. It appear the UK is stuck with Gordo for another year.

[Nervous Tick]

sords=words

[GreenLanternCorps]

“So, what do you suppose they'll call the House of Commons once Commons can serve in the former House of Lords?”

Commons, does not refer to commoners. It refers to the traditional common areas of Counties, Boroughs (towns and cities), and Universities. Certain UK universities elected their own Members of Parliament until the 1950 election.

Lords, historically referred to two types of lords. They were Lords Temporal who were called to Parliament by Writ of Summons (summoned by the King) or by Letters patent granting them a peerage. The others were Lords Temporal. Those consisted of the bishops of the five "great sees" (The Archbishops of Canterbury and York, and the Bishops of London, Durham, and Winchester) combined with the 21 senior bishops of the other sees.

[Clintonfatigued]

I wonder whether such a thing would work for the British, who have never experienced it? I have no idea what to think of it.

[GreenLanternCorps]

Brown has less than a year in office, which means that this will go nowhere until after the General Election. It’s just a publicity stunt.

The Lords have the ability to delay most bills for a year. The current Parliament (the 54th Parliament of the United Kingdom) expires five years to the day after it first met (May 11th, 2005), which means that unless it is dissolved sooner, it expires at midnight on May 10th, 2010. It is not possible for Labour to force this through. There will be years of consultation before the Lords are changed.