Jeffrey Archer & 92 Lords gets time off for bad behaviour

Jeffrey Archer gets time off for bad behaviour
Tom Happold and agencies
Thursday September 18, 2003

Convicted perjurer Lord Archer will be booted out of the House of Lords, along with anyone else who has ever committed a criminal offence and the 92 remaining hereditary peers, under plans unveiled by the constitutional affairs secretary, Lord Falconer, today.

He also announced that a statutory commission is to be set up to select and oversee appointments to the Lords. It will include representatives of the three major parties and crossbench peers.

Lord Falconer told peers that the government would introduce legislation to exclude the last of the hereditaries "when parliamentary time allows" and that the measure to force those convicted of an offence to give up their peerage would have "retrospective effect".

He added that he would be publishing a consultation paper on the reform of the office of lord chancellor and that the work to end the multiple roles of the position was already "well advanced."

The remaining hereditary peers survived a cull of their aristocratic contemporaries in 1999 after the then Conservative leader in the upper house, Lord Cranborne, cut a deal with the government to accept reform if they were spared until the second stage of reform was completed.

The publication of today's white paper follows the failure of MPs to agree the form of that next stage of reform earlier this year, when they rejected five options in turn. These ranged from maintaining the status quo to establishing a fully elected second chamber.

The Tory leader in the Lords, Lord Strathclyde (who as a hereditary will lose his seat under the proposals), accused the government of behaving as if the constitution were the "private property of the prime minister and his friends".

"This is a fundamentally dishonest statement. It is pretending the government is still interested in long-term reform when it is pushing a short-term political fix.

"No one can believe ministers have the slightest intention of ever delivering on genuine reform.

The Liberal Democrat spokesman, Paul Tyler, said: "This announcement is a double betrayal. First, it breaks the promise of two manifesto commitments. Second, it tears up the agreement that the 92 hereditary peers should remain until the reform of the Lords is completed.

"The Liberal Democrats will only support the removal of the remaining hereditary peers when this is accompanied by the promised introduction of elected members, to make the second chamber more democratic and representative.

Lord Falconer's statement coincides with the publication today of the House of Lords annual report, which shows it is one of the busiest parliamentary chambers in the world, sitting on more days than the House of Commons in 2002 and often late into the evening.

This is despite the fact most peers are elderly. Some in their 90s regularly attend and take part in debates. The report outlines the "crucial role" the Lords plays in scrutinising the government's programme of legislation.

Last year peers spent nearly 700 hours considering bills and some 8,500 amendments were dealt with.