Oral Answers to Questions Debate

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Department: Cabinet Office

Oral Answers to Questions

Mel Stride Excerpts
Tuesday 24th May 2011

(13 years, 6 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Alan Reid Portrait Mr Alan Reid (Argyll and Bute) (LD)
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11. What representations he has received on his plans for the future composition of the House of Lords.

Mel Stride Portrait Mel Stride (Central Devon) (Con)
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12. What recent representations he has received on his proposals for reform of the House of Lords.

Nick Clegg Portrait The Deputy Prime Minister
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The loudest voices inevitably belong to those who object the most to our proposals to make the House of Lords a more democratic Chamber but, as the hon. Member for Edmonton (Mr Love) said last week, a democratic Chamber was endorsed in the manifestos of all three of the largest parties in the House.

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Nick Clegg Portrait The Deputy Prime Minister
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One of the advantages of the system that we are introducing, as explained in the White Paper, is that it will permit political parties to take active steps, in so far as they wish to do so, to use elections to the other place to increase the diversity of representation in Westminster as a whole.

Mel Stride Portrait Mel Stride (Central Devon) (Con)
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Given the country’s firm rejection of AV in the recent referendum and the fact that the Government’s proposals include the possibility of some form of proportional representation for election of Members of this Parliament, will my right hon. Friend at least consider giving the people of this country a referendum on this important constitutional change?

Nick Clegg Portrait The Deputy Prime Minister
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The first point of which to remind my hon. Friend is that this was a manifesto commitment of all three parties. It is something that we as a country have been discussing for around 100 years or so, and we have introduced changed electoral systems to a number of Assemblies and Parliaments in the UK without referendums in the past.