Lords Reform: Britain now a laughing stock

12.00.00am GMT Wed 5th Feb 2003

The failure of the UK Parliament to reform the House of Lords has been met with incredulity by Britain's European partners, claims Liberal Democrat constitutional spokesman Andrew Duff MEP. In a statement today, Andrew Duff, who represents the European Liberal Democrats (ELDR) in the Convention, said:

"The preference of the House of Lords for the status quo is hardly surprising. But the fact that the House of Commons is complacent about living with a non-democratic second chamber is amazing. In European federal states the second chamber has an important function in representing the regions. In modern unitary states it is perfectly possible to replace the second legislative chamber with an appointed constitutional council of the great and good. Britain's failure to reform the House of Lords shows that we are unable to decide what sort of country we want to be.

"In the Convention on the Future of Europe which is designing a modern constitution for the European Union Britain's eccentricity is becoming more than a laughing matter. 'New Labour' has shown itself to be incapable of the clear-thinking and tough action that is required to make Britain a modern European place."