Lords reform needed to halt cronyism

1.49.18pm UTC (GMT +0000) Mon 13th Mar 2006

The Lord Chancellor from Gilbert & Sullivan's "Iolanthe" contrasted by a quote from what was clause 4 in the Labour Party Constitution "Power in the hands of the many, not the few"

Responding to accusations of cronyism, surrounding Labour's latest nominations to the House of Lords, Liberal Democrat Shadow Constitutional Affairs Secretary, Simon Hughes MP, said "Nominating all big Labour donors for Peerages is clearly bringing the House of Lords and Parliament into disrepute. Reform of the second chamber, to make it modern effective and fit for purpose, is a constitutional priority."

Simon went on to say "It would be a scandal if the Government were found to be awarding places in the legislature on the basis of party donations rather than expertise. Liberal Democrats will be active in their opposition to this apparent practice of nominating people for peerages principally on the basis of big-money donations. We will be active in working for an agreed solution that has wide spread public support. One of the issues that must be addressed is to separate donations to political parties from places in the legislature. A direct connection is clearly fundamentally wrong."