Boothroyd blasts Lords reform bill

In a rare public intervention she singled out Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg for criticism, branding him the “chief advocate of the demise of this House” and urged Peers to be “ready to resist come what may from that Government front bench”.

She said the coalition was intent not on reforming the House of Lords but on abolishing it by making it mainly elected, and said it would “tear up the roots that make it the most effective revising chamber in the world”.

But Dewsbury-born Baroness Boothroyd said: “Never in my experience has an institution at the heart of the British constitution been marked down for destruction on such spurious grounds.

“Never in all my years in public life has the bicameral role of our Parliament been so want only put at risk by such disregard of the nation’s best interests.”

She told fellow peers: “If this House was judged on its record in a court of law, our acquittal would be sure and swift.”

Mr Clegg unveiled plans in May for a new second chamber with 300 members, 80 per cent of which could be elected, but Baroness Boothroyd said the Government was “losing the debate” and warned of cross-party opposition.