Susan Elan Jones
Main Page: Susan Elan Jones (Labour - Clwyd South)Department Debates - View all Susan Elan Jones's debates with the Cabinet Office
House of Lords Reform (Draft Bill)
Susan Elan Jones Excerpts(13 years, 6 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
The Deputy Prime Minister
That is a very important point, which shows that there is a chance of reform on several fronts, not just one.
Susan Elan Jones (Clwyd South) (Lab)
The Deputy Prime Minister speaks of supernumerary appointments—a rather complex word. Could it not be interpreted as unelected appointments by a Government who might even be tempted to pack the Lords?
The Deputy Prime Minister
As I specified earlier, all we are envisaging is that if future Prime Ministers wish to appoint Ministers, they must make sure that those Ministers are for the duration of their ministerial office held to account by either this place or the other place, and that one way of achieving that objective, which is to enhance and strengthen the accountability of the Executive to the legislature, is to allow Prime Ministers in a small number of cases to appoint Ministers on a supernumerary basis for a temporary period during the time that they hold ministerial office.