House of Lords Reform: Has Godot Arrived?

by The Rt. Hon. Jack Straw MP, Lord High Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice

A summary

After almost a century since Winston Churchill suggested a second chamber of 150 members, 100 elected and 50 appointed, it seems that reform of the House of Lords is finally turning into reality. Several reports, from committees set up and appointed by the Labour government under Tony Blair constituting both MPs and Lords, have in recent years recommended many changes to the Lords. Godot, the man who never arrives in Beckett’s most famous work, to which Robin Cook once compared Lords reform, seemed ready to arrive, as MPs voted, in free votes March this year, for a majority or fully elected second chamber, breaking the deadlock on the matter. However, the Lords rejected all options apart from 100 percent appointed, and Jack Straw assures the reader that he will strive for a “complete reform of the Lords”.
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The article itself is from the Inner Temple 2007-8 Yearbook, pages 12-13.

 by Oscar X T Tang