Lords reform

This article tells us:

“The final proposals were sent by the rebels’ leader Jesse Norman MP to Patrick McLoughlin, the Tory party chief whip and to Cabinet Office minister Oliver Letwin on Thursday.

The seven point plan includes a proposal to allow mass membership organisations – such as the CBI, TUC, General Medical Council or even the RSPB – to elect their own peers.

The MPs hold the key over whether David Cameron and Nick Clegg can force their plans to reform the Lords through Parliament.

The Government wants to replace the Lords with an 80 per cent elected second chamber – and the Tory MPs are vehemently opposed.

An earlier draft of the letter said: “By the same token however we remain very strongly opposed to the recommendation for popular election to the Lords.”

It makes me reflect on a couple of issues pertinent to local government – the first being the mandate of organisations such as the national trust for their lobbying on issues such as the National Planning Policy Framework – most members it seems to me join to get access to stately homes. I suspect giving these organisations in effect “nomination rights” to the House of Lords would do little in terms of democratic principles.

Secondly and a little less mischievously in all this talk of the scrutiny of the national executive how effective are we in Local Government at really exercising effective scrutiny of the work of our executive members?