Subscribe to trusted local news
In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever. By subscribing, you can help us get the story right.
- Subscription costs less than £1 a week with an annual plan.
Already a subscriber? Log in here.
18
Dec
Abolish House of Lords, says Harrogate and Knaresborough MP
Tom Gordon, the Liberal Democrat MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, handed a petition into Parliament last night calling on the government to abolish the House of Lords.
Mr Gordon said the House of Lords “lacks democratic legitimacy” and should be replaced by an elected second chamber.
He added it costs taxpayers £371 a day per peer.
Mr Gordon said:
For too long, peerages have been handed out as rewards for loyalty, donations and personal connections, undermining the very foundations of our democracy.
An unelected chamber built on patronage has no place in a modern political system. It’s time to abolish the House of Lords as we know it and replace it with a fully elected second chamber – one that is democratic, accountable, and fit to scrutinise legislation properly.
If we are serious about building a true democracy, the patronage palace must go.
Liberal Democrat Harrogate town councillor Graham Dixon, who backed the petition, said:
“I have always thought that the House of Lords was unrepresentative, but the current practice where a ruling party appoints party supporters to force through their own legislation is totally undemocratic.
“We need to move urgently to an elected second chamber based on a system of proportional representation and fully accountable to the electorate.”
0