Lords must take charge as elected Government fails nation

From: RC Dales, Church View, Brompton, Northallerton.

WITH reference to the article by Frances D’Souza, the Lord Speaker (Yorkshire Post, November 14) in which she called for answers to several questions about the House of Lords. There are other questions requiring answers! But we don’t want answers from politicians.

Public confidence in them has never been so low. Nor do we want answers from anyone in Government, including civil servants, who are so immersed in old procedures that they haven’t even realised that a radical replanning is needed.

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What we do need is answers from men and women who have wide experience outside politics and who have acquired wisdom. Never before have the shortcomings of party politicians in the Commons required to be rectified in an Upper House. So it must be non-political.

Its main purpose must continue to be the scrutiny of legislation proposed by the Commons, referring back to them any rectification necessary. Although the Commons will have the supreme power, the Second House obviously must contain the best brains in the country, and be able to assess the effects of legislation on all walks of life and for the long term.

So the members must be drawn from all fields, Professional, industrial, commercial, financial, religious, health and police authority, urban and rural. Employers, trade unions, social, domestic, defence and policing and sporting interests need to be represented.

Only one type of organisation is suitable for a Second Chamber of wisdom, experience and expertise. It will be the result of every national organisation being invited to apply for membership, so embracing all the interests mentioned above.

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They would be required to arrange for their members to elect the best possible representative, and accept that their organisation will be responsible for the cost of membership of and attendance at the Second Chamber.

Organisations would be asked to elect a deputy also, and be required to have a representative attending every session. There would be a limit to the number of members, maybe 200. If more than that number is nominated, a council would decide which organisations covered the most important activity.

No member of a political party would be a member, but when a Bill from the Commons is to be scrutinised, the Commons Minister responsible for the Bill would be required to attend.

The council formed to consider nominations may also be charged with the responsibility of drawing up rules for the new Second Chamber.

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The first priority is to decide who should be members of that council. It is suggested that there should be no more than seven, who may include the heads of national organisations with a widespread of representation, for example the Chambers of Commerce and of Trade, Rotary, Soroptomists, CLA etc.

If anyone has a better answer to this major problem, now is the time to bring it forward. One test would be to ask which solution would be likely to result in the rectification of the scandalous decline of our National Health Service or the disgraceful amount of government borrowing.