Move to 'banish' House of Lords to York would 'emasculate' scrutiny, peer claims

Following leaks to the press over the weekend, and a long-running rumour that the Upper House would be moved North, Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove confirmed on Sunday that parts of the Civil Service would be moved out of central London to other areas of the UK.

“As far as the legislature goes, that is obviously a question for the House of Commons and the House of Lords – Government has to tread carefully,” he said.

But peers today shunned the idea, accusing No 10 of wanting to “rid [themselves] of these pesky Lords”.

Liberal Democrat Lord Tyler said there were “various attempts by Number 10 to emasculate the scrutiny” of the Lords, and said: “Can we take it that this proposal to banish us to York is simply a threat to cut off the house from MPs, ministers, cabinet, civil servants and the rest and to weaken our constitutional role?”

Lord Tyler’s opposition differed dramatically to his party colleague and City of York council leader Keith Aspden, who today wrote to Boris Johnson backing the reported plan.

While Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town recalled how Henry VIII had “sought to placate his rebels with a parliament in York” and asked who was being placated by the modern day suggestion.

She said: “He sounds like he's trying to rid himself of these pesky lords.”

Crossbench peer Baroness Beech said the move would be a “gesture of disrespect” and would only work if the Commons also moved.

She added: “As far as spreading governance to the North, it's not likely to work any better than the BBC partial move to Salford. The move if it happened would only result in far more virtual working.”

She said the Queen would also be dragged into any argument about moving the Lords.

She said: “Since the Writ of Summons from the Queen commands noble Lords to meet in Westminster, [...] any move would involve the crown, the Royal prerogative and legislation and draw the crown into this.”

But responding for the Government, Cabinet Office minister Lord True said “the House should not present itself as in a state of shock horror at the idea that some of its proceedings and some of its activities might take place outside London”.

He said it was “ultimately a decision for sovereign Parliament”, however he added: “Given the circumstances, it is reasonable, I think for all of us to examine how every part of Parliament may find itself closer to the people.”

Lord Lang of Monkton said the rumour was a “persistent one” and that any move of the Lords to York would not solve the problem of centralisation.

He said: “Isn't it the case that this would not be decentralisation as has been mooted in the rumors, but in reality, it would deliver more centralisation into the hands of the executive in London?”

Lord True said: “I would have to repeat one of the wider considerations here which is this, the Government's intention - this was very clear in the manifesto - is to find ways in which to bring the whole process of government closer to the people.

“And I do not believe that Parliament or indeed this House, should simply reject that concept.”

He said: “In this current emergency, [peers] have been scattered to the four corners of the kingdom and there's been no parallel since 1665 when the house took itself up to Oxford to avoid the plague.”

He added: “I don't feel either today or on other occasions that the intense and proper scrutiny of your Lordships has been weakened. But I reject any contention that this Government at any time would want to weaken parliamentary scrutiny.”

He said: “Obviously this is a House of Parliament and needs to be treated with respect and has the last say.”

The reported plan to move the House of Lords or civil service departments to York were first rumoured at the beginning of the year, with reports revived over the weekend.

Coun Aspden, who has led City of York Council since last summer, said the city's "excellent transport links, talented population and ambitious plans for the future" made it the "ideal place for a major Government relocation".

He has written to Mr Johnson and the Cabinet Office to support the proposals reported in a national newspaper, and he said: "I look forward to working to ensure that promises made to level-up our region are delivered.”

In his letter he said: “Historically York has already been home to the seat of power in the 15th and 16th century with the Council of the North.

"Today York is an ambitious city, steeped in history and with many exciting prospects for the future. Worth £5.2bn to the UK economy, York is a key driver of regional growth with 9,000 businesses and 110,000 people employed across the city.

“Yorkshire and the Humber continues to receive significantly less investment in school, public transport and infrastructure than London and the South East.

"As reported recently by The Times, it was suggested that the Government is considering York as the best placed location to serve as a ‘second city’ for Government. I welcome this suggestion and reiterate our support for this announcement.”

It was previously reported that the PM was looking to scrap the Lords altogether and set up a House of Regions, with bigger prominence given to the North.

But in January Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell, while waiting to assume the role, joked that he would “later this year have a large garden available in York where a suitable marquee could be erected for these purposes”.

And he added: “Since some of the most important business that we do in these Houses is actually not in the chambers itself, but in the corridors, it seems to me to be a very serious threat to our democratic processes if we're not in the same place, so I would ask the minister to perhaps say, could we reconsider this one, please?”