In defence of hereditary peers

Starmer’s spiteful plan for the Lords breaks an important intergenerational contract

THE LAST REMAINING hereditary peers are to be thrown out of Parliament. Good, you might say. What place does heredity have in our legislative process? Britain is finally moving into the modern era, you might add. Reforming the House of Lords has been a low-level objective of all three parties of government over the last 20 years, finally Keir Starmer is getting on and doing it. Well before you sans-culottes start burning your breeches, I think someone should make a defence of the House of Lords in general and the hereditary principle in particular. First the easy argument: it works. It works for what we want it do in our constitution. We want the upper house to be a revising chamber, including among its number a sprinkling of experts, to…

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The Critic (Digital) - 1 Issue, October 2024

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