House of Lords: Relevance

Debate between Baroness Goldie and Baroness Twycross

Wednesday 4th November 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Twycross (Lab)]

We are committed to reform, and we have already taken steps to modernise the House of Lords via the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Act. It is a long-standing precedent across the political spectrum that Governments recommend new Peers to the sovereign. Retirements and other departures mean that new Peers will be needed to ensure that the Lords has appropriate expertise. In the first instance, we intend to respond later this year to the report by the committee of the House that made recommendations.

[Baroness Goldie (Con)]

My Lords, I may not regard myself as contemporary, but, coming from Scotland, I am a proud member of the United Kingdom, with British citizenship, and I am privileged to be in this House. Very recently, I have seen at first hand the manifestation of the expertise to which the Minister has been referring. The 97 year-old noble and gallant Lord, Lord Craig of Radley, delivered a crucial amendment to the Armed Forces Bill that was accepted by the Government, and my venerable noble friend Lord Young of Cookham, who is in his mid-80s, has brought unrelenting pressure on the Government in respect of housing issues and child trust funds. Does that not suggest to the Minister that the Government should be very careful about interfering with the unique equilibrium which enables this Chamber to do the excellent job it does?

[Baroness Twycross (Lab)]

The Government’s manifesto committed to a mandatory retirement age, and clearly that was a large part of the consideration of the committee that was made up of Members of your Lordships’ House and which reported to it earlier this year. Although we have incredible examples of what Members of your Lordships’ House who are over the age of 80 do, that does not necessarily mean that we should not take forward reform. The Government will respond to the committee’s proposals in due course, as I made clear, and I look forward to future debates with Members from across your Lordships’ House.