Lord Speaker calls for number of peers to be slashed by removing 'passengers' from upper chamber
2 min read
The number of peers could be slashed by removing "passengers" who make little or no contribution to the work of the House of Lords, according to the Lord Speaker.
Lord Fowler suggested the huge influx of apppointed peers under Tony Blair and David Cameron had diluted the quality of debate in the upper chamber.
Speaking to The Guardian, he said: "You do have extraordinary cases where people have come in and after a few days they’ve come to the conclusion that, actually they’re in the wrong place doing the wrong thing - or rather not doing the wrong thing. And the last thing we want in the House of Lords is passengers."
Mr Blair created 374 life peers when he was Prime Minister, while Mr Cameron ennobled 260.
Lord Fowler - who has led calls for the overall number of peers to be reduced from the current figure of around 800, said: "It’s partly unfair, because there were some good people who came in.
"What I think is fair to say is that on that, as with other appointments, there was no process in which they came before a commission and it was explained to a prospective new peer what was involved in the job."
He added "I do think it is completely crazy that we have a system at the moment where the size of the House of Lords is totally open-ended
“I know of no assembly in the western world, or any other world for that matter, where there isn’t a limit on the numbers. It isn’t a revolutionary thing to say."
Elsewhere in the interview, Lord Fowler said he supported extending same-sex marriage to Northern Ireland, something which is stringly opposed by the DUP.
He said: "I think it should be a United Kingdom process. It shouldn’t be a matter of debate any more."
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