Saturday, November 01, 2014
Labour's hypocrisy on Lords' reform is astonishing
The Times reports on the backlash, certainly amongst my party, at the proposals by Ed Milband to reform the House of Lords.
The Labour leader has said that he wants an elected senate to replace the House of Lords and to represent all the towns, cities, regions and nations of the United Kingdom.
The problem is that when the Liberal Democrats put forward proposals along these lines instead of working with us to achieve an acceptable solution, Labour joined with the Tories to vote them down.
It is no wonder that senior Liberal Democrats are accusing Miliband of hypocrisy:
Deputy leader of the Lib Dems Sir Malcolm Bruce said: “Ed Miliband partnered up with backbench Tories to destroy the best chance this country has had to reform the Lords.
“We could have given the UK greater representation in Parliament, but when presented with the chance, he bottled it; turned his back and ran. This is simply lip-service from a Labour party who have no intention of actually delivering.”
The fact is that we cannot trust Labour to deliver constitutional change. When it comes to the crunch they do not back up their words with action.
The Labour leader has said that he wants an elected senate to replace the House of Lords and to represent all the towns, cities, regions and nations of the United Kingdom.
The problem is that when the Liberal Democrats put forward proposals along these lines instead of working with us to achieve an acceptable solution, Labour joined with the Tories to vote them down.
It is no wonder that senior Liberal Democrats are accusing Miliband of hypocrisy:
Deputy leader of the Lib Dems Sir Malcolm Bruce said: “Ed Miliband partnered up with backbench Tories to destroy the best chance this country has had to reform the Lords.
“We could have given the UK greater representation in Parliament, but when presented with the chance, he bottled it; turned his back and ran. This is simply lip-service from a Labour party who have no intention of actually delivering.”
The fact is that we cannot trust Labour to deliver constitutional change. When it comes to the crunch they do not back up their words with action.
