The United Kingdom has been debating House of Lords reform for over a century, but even the present Coalition Government has so far failed to determine the direction to be taken to complete the changes that began under the Blair Government back in 1999. This paper provides a brief overview of the history of the House of Lords since the approval of the Parliament Act in 1911, it then goes on to examine the position of the three main political parties with respect to Lords reform highlighting how both the Conservatives and the Labour Party have significantly shifted their stance over the past few decades. The author then goes on to illustrate the reasons for the present political deadlock following the defeat of the House of Lords Reform Bill 2012 and he also examines the minor novelties introduced by the House of Lords Reform Act 2014. Finally, making a comparison with Italy and the debate concerning the reform of the Senate, the author underlines that although opting for a fully elected second chamber would certainly overcome the lack of democratic legitimization it would also create a series of severe problems in the British constitution such as undermining the pre-eminent role of the House of Commons and drawing a second chamber, that is presently considered independent and impartial, into partisan political politics with the consequent loss of the important scrutiny and watchdog functions that the House of Lords performs thus weakening Britain’s system of checks and balances.
La riforma della Camera dei Lords: un dibattito che dura da più di un secolo
FROSINI, JUSTIN ORLANDO
2014
Abstract
The United Kingdom has been debating House of Lords reform for over a century, but even the present Coalition Government has so far failed to determine the direction to be taken to complete the changes that began under the Blair Government back in 1999. This paper provides a brief overview of the history of the House of Lords since the approval of the Parliament Act in 1911, it then goes on to examine the position of the three main political parties with respect to Lords reform highlighting how both the Conservatives and the Labour Party have significantly shifted their stance over the past few decades. The author then goes on to illustrate the reasons for the present political deadlock following the defeat of the House of Lords Reform Bill 2012 and he also examines the minor novelties introduced by the House of Lords Reform Act 2014. Finally, making a comparison with Italy and the debate concerning the reform of the Senate, the author underlines that although opting for a fully elected second chamber would certainly overcome the lack of democratic legitimization it would also create a series of severe problems in the British constitution such as undermining the pre-eminent role of the House of Commons and drawing a second chamber, that is presently considered independent and impartial, into partisan political politics with the consequent loss of the important scrutiny and watchdog functions that the House of Lords performs thus weakening Britain’s system of checks and balances.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.