Sir, Having been Speaker of the House of Commons for nine years and having spent the last eight sitting on the cross benches in the House of Lords, I think I can detect when political parties are not being entirely true to themselves or fair to their members. As one who has become increasingly convinced of the value which an assembly of experience and expertise can add to the democratic process, I have also become increasingly concerned at the way in which those in the leadership of our two main parties appear not only to discount this fact, but are also wilfully determined to ride roughshod over the wishes of a large number of their members: in the case of the Conservative Party, a sizeable majority of them.
In these circumstances, I would have expected the views of those members of both Houses to be reflected in the composition of the committee which the Lord High Chancellor has formed to come up with proposals for a future second chamber. Not a bit of it. Mr Straw has gathered around him a small group of people who share his own views and prejudices, with the express intention of creating a situation where not only his own party, but the others too, commit themselves to manifesto pledges. Mr Straw tells us that he is striving for consensus. It is easy enough to achieve consensus among people who agree with each other, but what of the rest of us?
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Baroness Boothroyd
House of Lords