Everyone, and not without reason, holds the House of Commons in some degree of contempt. This has provoked any number of proposals for reforming the lower house. One simple, if admittedly difficult and controversial, measure, however would be to grant the House of Lords more power, relative to the Commons, than it currently enjoys. It is hard to see what harm this could do, not least since frustrating the Commons ought to be an objective, not a tactic.
And then there’s the splendid nature of the Lords, even now that they’ve been denuded of backwoods hereditary peers. Consider this exchange at this week’s edition of Transport Questions. The matter under discussion was electric cars and the benefits and, it must be said, potential problems of their future, presumed, popularity:
Lord Ashley of Stoke: Does my noble friend agree that this is a no-win situation, whichever way the Government turn? We cannot advocate noisy vehicles because of the environment and yet blind people and deaf people really are vulnerable to silent vehicles.
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