-Caveat Lector-
"The Conservative Party, which most of the hereditary peers support, had
opposed the end of the Lords' political role in Parliament.
"The Blair government has not decided on the composition of a new House
of Lords, which is expected to be partly appointed by the PM and partly
elected.
"Critics expect the new chamber to be a gathering of Labor party
do-nothings and cronies of prime minister Blair."
Titles will mean nothing and millionaire status will mean everything.
Lords Vote To End Heredity Rule
By MITCH STACY
.c The Associated Press
LONDON (AP) - The House of Lords, under pressure from Prime Minister Tony
Blair's Labor government, has agreed to abolish the 800-year-old right of
hereditary nobles to sit and vote in Britain's upper chamber of Parliament.
After hours of emotionally charged debate Tuesday, the Lords approved the
bill on its third and final reading by 221-81. It will now go back to lower
house, the House of Commons, for finishing touches.
``A long chapter of history is being closed tonight,'' said Lord Strathclyde,
the opposition Conservative Party leader in the Lords. ``The tale is now
told.''
The House of Lords has 1,213 members, of whom 759 are ``hereditary peers,''
or nobles who inherit their seats along family lines. Prime Minister Tony
Blair had vowed to end the right of peers who inherited their seats in the
Lords to be lawmakers.
Baroness Jay, the leader of the Lords, said it was ``time to say thank you
and goodbye'' to hereditary peers.
``The bill is a central part of this government's program to modernize the
British constitution to make it fit to serve the whole country in the 21st
century,'' she said. ``We believe a necessary first step is to remove the
profoundly undemocratic element that hereditary peers represent.''
The bill only ends the right of hereditary peers to be lawmakers. They retain
their titles and estates.
The Conservative Party, which most of the hereditary peers support, had
opposed the peers having to vote their seats out of existence.
But in the end, they accepted their fate. If they had rejected the bill,
Blair could have presented it again in the Labor-dominated House of Commons
in the new parliamentary session starting Nov. 17. The Lords can reject a
Commons bill, but it cannot reject it a second time if it passes Commons
again.
The Blair government has not decided on the composition of a new House of
Lords, which is expected to be partly appointed and partly elected. Critics
charge that the new chamber will be a gathering of governing party
do-nothings and cronies of the prime minister.
Until the new chamber is set up, 92 of the hereditary peers will remain part
of Lords along with the other current members, called ``life peers.'' The
life peers are mainly former members of Commons and others appointed for
life.
The 92 hereditary peers who win a temporary reprieve are being selected by
ballots among their fellow aristocrats. Final results will be announced Nov.
5.
On Tuesday, at least one blue blood decided not to go quietly.
At one point during the debate, a duke's son jumped on the speaker's historic
seat in the House of Lords to declare his displeasure.
``Behind this bill for Lords' reform lies a hidden agenda which is treason,''
the Earl of Burford said before leaping on the Woolsack, a square seat of
stuffed wool that has been reserved for speakers since the 14th century.
Deputy Speaker Lord Boston, who was perched on the Woolsack, ducked out of
the way as ushers grabbed and ousted the 34-year-old earl, heir to the 14th
Duke of St. Albans.
Burford was in the chamber exercising the right of the eldest sons of peers
to sit on the steps of Queen Elizabeth II's throne, but not take part in
proceedings.
But the earl - whose family motto is ``A pledge of better times'' - sprang up
from the steps, complaining that the bill removed ``inalienable rights
granted to my family by King Charles II in 1684.''
``Indeed, the very existence of the monarchy is threatened,'' he said.
Some Conservative Party members abstained from voting, and many members of
the chamber were not present. Typically, about 380 of the body's 1200-plus
members are in attendance for any one session.
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