Sir Lindsay Hoyle opposes Labour’s Lords plans

House of Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle has expressed his opposition to Labour’s plan to replace the House of Lords with an elected chamber.

Speaking to the BBC’s World at One, Sir Lindsay said it would undermine the authority of the House of Commons.

He also praised the work of the Lords, arguing they tidied up bills that had been sped through Parliament by MPs.

It is an unusual intervention by the Speaker, a former Labour MP, who is supposed to be politically impartial.

Earlier this month, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer argued that the current system – whereby political parties nominate people to sit the Lords – was “undemocratic” and “indefensible”.

Instead, he supports a proposal – made in a report by former Prime Minister Gordon Brown – of replacing the Lords with an Assembly of the Nations and Regions.

Mr Brown’s report says the assembly could be made up of 200 elected members and that a procedure could be established that would “sustain the primacy of the House of Commons”.

However, Sir Lindsay – who is in charge of keeping order in the House of Commons – said a second elected chamber would create confusion.

“If you have a second elected chamber, who has supremacy? You cannot have the competition” he told BBC Radio 4’s Carolyn Quinn.

He also defended the work of the House of Lords. saying: “Thank goodness we have had the house next door to reform some of the bills.

“They needed tidying up… because when you have speedy legislation, you need someone to really look at it.

“That’s where the House plays a very important role.”

He added that he didn’t think scrapping the House of Lords would be a priority for any future Labour government.

Traditionally speakers are given a place in the House of Lords when they retire, although Sir Lindsay’s predecessor, John Bercow was not granted a peerage.

If Sir Lindsay does join the Lords, he will be following in the footsteps of his father Doug Hoyle, who has served as a Labour peer since 1997.

Reflecting on the past year, Sir Lindsay regretted the political turmoil which saw two Conservative prime ministers, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, kicked out in quick succession by their own MPs.

Asked if the turbulence had turned the UK into an international laughing stock, the speaker replied: “It did.”

He added: “People’s respect for democracy has struggled – we didn’t help ourselves this year with what went on.

“It was a disaster.”

He said he could not remember a worse year in Parliament and hoped for a “more peaceful new year”.

Reports /TrainViral/