A British Senate? The ‘Next UK Prime Minister’ is Pledging Ruinous Constitutional Reforms That Cannot be Undone.

1/18/23

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from National Pulse,
1/18/22:

The Labour Party leader is pledging lazy “reforms” which in fact weaken the British government’s ties to the long term national interest.

Like our American cousins, the British public often laments the avaricious, megalomaniacal, and self-interested ways of their political class. We demand more accountability and more gratitude from our politicians. It is irrelevant whether one is of the left or right – both “sides” are broadly dissatisfied with prevailing regime.

Disenfranchisement has been a growing concern for as long as most can remember, and now feels ubiquitous. Despite this, one of the only major constitutional changes we have made in recent decades actually ousted some people from political life who actually had more interest in the longer term successes of the nation. The destruction of our upper chamber – the House of Lords – by way of abolishing the majority of hereditary peers (Lords and Baronesses), has been disastrous for the nation. We have not recovered from this constitutional vandalism of the Blair years, nor may we ever, lest we seek to restore the very point of a bicameral legislature.
The House of Lords.

The imperfection of the House of Lords prior to this was self-evident. Having an entire parliamentary chamber filled with aristocrats or the sons thereof speaks little in favor of representative democracy. The chamber offered unelected persons the opportunity to intervene in the governance and legislative agenda of the nation.

Since Labour introduced the House of Lords Act (1999), more than 650 hereditary peerages were abolished, leaving a mere 91 in situ. What replaced these people was the chaotic mess we now recognize, with hereditary legislators replaced with failed politicians or dodgy, semi-surreptitious, lobbyists or donors for whom there is often no accountability.

This new arrangement has already been so disastrous that just over two decades on, the nation already recognizes that more reform, or even abolition of the House is necessary. Both sides of the so-called political spectrum are deeply unhappy with it

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