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Post Info TOPIC: House Of Lords
Ken

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House Of Lords
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I think the house of lords should be a People Elected House like a Senate.

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Hairyloon


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Ken wrote:

I think the house of lords should be a People Elected House like a Senate.


If the Lords are elected, then what makes them different from the commons?

 



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Spidergran


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Yes to a Second Chamber
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The structure of a Second Chamber need not involve voting/elections.  It could be based on magistrates' appointments.  I think mags are selected on the strength of their application, in how far they meet selection criteria/job description, and in response to vacancies.  Second Chamber office could be limited to five or six years.  Seats should represent all key social constituencies so it matters less of where an office holder lives but what social constituents they represent.  The selection panel must justify decisions in public. There would be no need to turf out every office holder at the same time.  Staggered departure patterns make for greater stability, continuity and lower training costs.



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Spidergran
tosh


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RE: House Of Lords
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If the second chamber is to be an effective scrutinising & revising chamber to weed out the excesses of the Commons, it needs a range of specialists, not Joe Bloggs

1 Decide on the number of members and areas of expertise required (solicitors & barristers, magistrates & barristers, vicars & archbishop equivalents for all main faiths, medical profession, accountants, aristocracy & life peers - say 100 in total
2 The same candidate list of 500 is displayed in every polling station, each candidate has a unique number and every voter writes one candidate number on the ballot.
All votes are counted in the Constituency, and recorded by returning officer on a central candidate database.  Computer totals all votes for each candidate and the top 100 are duly elected, quick, with little extra effort or cost.

Proviso - all stand as individuals on their own merit, (UK citizens / taxpayers only). No more party donations for Honours.
Every candidate has a chance, everyone has a vote

Needs a  bit more work



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Rwth of Cornovii


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I think that the number of members in the House of Lords depends on the amount of work they have to do. If they are going to send silly bills packing, they need to have probably as many as they have now.

I quite like the ones we have now. There are one or two I'd do without, but that's because I don't agree with them. No names, no pack drill. Just being rich shouldn't disqualify someone, unless they aren't paying tax on their UK income.

A landed peer may be very good at running a business and know what to look for in a silly bill. I'd agree with expertise criteria. It's always useful to have lawyers, but people with their own views on ethics shouldn't be able to stop a bill giving other people rights they don't approve of. e.g. assisted suicide.



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Rwth of Cornovii Rwth E Hunt
Spidergran


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http://www.leftfootforward.org:80/2010/03/reformers-demand-no-more-appointments-to-lords/

Click here for a thoughtful range of suggestions on Lords reform.

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