David Cameron’s fullsome support for House of Lords reform
Regular Liberal Democrat Voice contributor Nick Thornsby has made a good spot with his blog piece yesterday, putting up a clip showing how David Cameron is on record as fully supporting Lords reform – and criticising others who have not got on with it. Despite reports to the contrary of his reluctance to pursue the issue, here’s what he said in public:
Via @markpack David Cameron's fullsome support for House of Lords reform during last year's election debates http://bit.ly/jUqAlc
I am not at all in favour of having Lords popularly elected, since we already have the Commons elected, but I do think the selection process needs reform away from its present biased political and religious lines.
The European economic crisis, especially in Italy and Greece who have had to install economists in place of elected Prime Ministers to steward their exchequers out of bankruptcy, has shown us that having electable charisma doesn't make you a brilliant manager of money, and Hitler's democratically achieved election also proved that he who is most popular doesn't always embrace the long term best interests of the proletariat.
What I would like to see is apolitical consensus appointments to the Lords, based upon acknowledged brilliance in key areas of concern relevant to government, ranging through fiscal, legal, business, military, education, health, police, religion, social, arts et al, who review legislation much as they do now, but from a background of proven rather than presumed or self-proclaimed expertise.
Our present system in the Commons requires the ruling party to populate its front bench from the best available out of those who managed to persuade a majority in their electorate to vote for them, but who may not always be the best available either in the country or for the country. I would therefore be dead against replicating this anomaly in the Lords.