Humiliation for Cameron and Osborne as (Lord) peers DEFEAT plan to slash tax credits for 3 [tr]

UK Daily Mail ^ | October 26, 2015 | Tom McTague and Daniel Martin

[C19fan]

George Osborne was left reeling tonight after peers dramatically threw out the government's planned tax credits cuts - overturning the views of elected MPs. The House of Lords voted 289 to 272 delay the changes for three years until measures could be introduced to protect poor families. The tax credit cuts are central to the Government's plan to eliminate the deficit by 2020 - saving £4.4billion from the welfare bill. Downing Street said the UK was in 'unchartered waters' after the vote, which goes against centuries of tradition that the House of Commons decides financial matters.

[C19fan]

This represents a major break with political tradition as since the early 1900s with David LLoyd George's "Peoples' Budget" the House of Lords has no say in fiscal matters. Hopefully Cameron has more guts than the GOP Congress leadership and pays a visit to Her Majesty to create new peers to get the bill through. I nominate myself as a potential Baron. :) The House of Lords now is mostly consistent of what are called Life Peers who are given peerships for only their life with no inheritance of the title. I think less than 100 of the hereditary peers have seats in the Lords.

[SeeSharp]

Wasn’t there some kind of major change during Blair’s tenure? I thought they got rid of hereditary membership in the HOL.

[C19fan]

They did in 1999 but 92 families retained their hereditary membership.