Wednesday, February 07, 2007

[house of lords] someone finally recognizes its vital role

On the absolute stupidity of an elected Lords, Martine Martin, G-d bless her cotton socks, has said:

I will argue that point to the death. I've never read an argument yet for this that stands up in any way. To say that an unelected second chamber is somehow "inappropriate for the 21st century" reeks of an incredibly superficial understanding of democracy and our parliamentary system in general. As we know, any banana republic can have elections. They're meaningless compared to all the other nuances of a political system created in order to remove the potential for corruption or abuse of power.

Of course – it’s only logical. I differ from her only in the workability of inducting new Lords and in her view of hereditary peers: “Transform the remaining hereditaries into Life Peers.” No, the hereditary peers have every right to a place in the Lords, on the basis of her own argument:

As we know, any banana republic can have elections. They're meaningless compared to all the other nuances of a political system created in order to remove the potential for corruption or abuse of power.

What I think Martine is getting at is that they should be above politics. In this I heartily concur and deplore the attempts to cripple this absolutely vital chamber for the survival of our freedoms. My proposals are here and here is my fervent hope that this current madness shall pass.

UPDATE: Please check out Benedict White's take on this.

4 comments:

  1. My own view is that the house of Lords does not need any reform.

    As for people looking to keep up with the latest fashion, that is not the best argument for change I have seen. Obviously I have more on my blog.

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  2. Thanks, Benedict, I'll certainly check it out.

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  3. I have reciprocated the article link.

    Fancy a link swap? (Both here and on defending the blog)

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  4. Hi James,

    I intend to blog on this this evening. It might get sweary.

    RS

    PS - I will (if I ever can) get my links working, change my colour and improve general quality which has dipped somewhat over the last month (notice downturn in comments etc).

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