It is difficult to exaggerate the fury in the Tory party at the House of Lords after last night’s double defeat. MPs I have spoken to today want swift and damaging retribution from the government for the Upper Chamber’s behaviour that goes far beyond what ministers are likely to propose, with some suggesting that the bishops should be the first to take the hit because they should understand the constitutional delicacies involved in votes like this given their ‘privileged constitutional position in the Chamber’.
Mind you, the Bishops weren’t as turbulent last night as they could have been: only the Archbishop of York supported the Baroness Hollis amendment that delayed approving the cuts until certain conditions are met, and only three bishops (Portsmouth, Chester and York) supported Baroness Meacher’s amendment, which also delays Lords consideration of the cuts until certain conditions are met (you can read the division lists here). Others believe the whole edifice of the Upper Chamber has crumbled, leaving peers ‘finished’.
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