LABOUR’S watered-down plans to reform the House of Lords have passed their first parliamentary hurdle.
MPs voted on Tuesday to back the abolition of hereditary peerages.
There are currently 92 seats in the House of Lords reserved for peers who inherit their position.
Labour’s House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill has passed its first vote in the Commons and will now go on to be scrutinised by a committee.
An amendment tabled by the opposition which said the bill was "not an acceptable or effective method of enacting major constitutional change" was defeated by 453 Noes to 105 Ayes.
He argued the existence of hereditary peers was “parliamentary participation defined by the Game of Thrones principle”.
Wishart criticised the lack of ambition from Labour in reforming the Lords, asking: “Where is the almost federalism that we in Scotland were promised in the independence referendum?”
He added: “This meagre rubbish hasn’t even got the credibility to call itself reform.”
Keir Starmer ran for election as Labour leader on a pledge to abolish the House of Lords, which was subsequently watered down.
Labour have also shelved plans to force peers to retire at the age of 80.
Opening the debate, Paymaster General Nick Thomas-Symonds said removing hereditary peers was a “matter of principle” for the Government.
He added: “In the 21st century there should not be places in our Parliament, making our laws, reserved for those born into certain families. In fact, we are one of only two countries that still retain that hereditary element in our legislatures, a clear sign the time has come to see through this long overdue change.”
The other country is Lesotho, whose Senate contains tribal chiefs who have their positions by birthright.
Labour faced questions during the debate on whether their stance meant they were against the monarchy.
Tory backbencher John Hayes asked whether Labour thought it was “wrong” the King is given his position because “he belongs to a certain family”.
Thomas-Symonds (above) replied: “No it isn’t because it’s a completely different part of our constitution. No monarch has actually refused royal assent to a law since the time of Queen Anne, and secondly, it’s a constitutional monarchy that enjoys popular support.”
Some Tory MPs also called for representatives of other faiths to be given places in the upper house.
There are 12 Anglican bishops in the second chamber alongside the 12 Lords Spiritual, who are all Anglican bishops.
Speaking for the Opposition, shadow deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden said: “Just as with the Blair and Brown governments before, this Government seems obsessed with change for change’s sake. We’ve seen it all before, rebranding spun to give the impression of progress.”
He added: “Now, one of the central arguments evinced by the Paymaster General is that no one in Parliament should be there by, quote, ‘an accident of birth’. Yet today’s Labour Party reeks of the hereditary principle.
“The elevation of the nepo babies of north London, the coronation of the red princes: the Falconers, the Kinnocks, the Benns, the Eagles, the Reeves – many of them distinguished members, but under Labour’s closed shop, it’s hereditary peers out, hereditary MPs in.”
