Question: "The need for reform in the House of Lords has been greatly exaggerated and therefore makes proposals for reform likely to create more problems than they would solve." Discuss.
Answer: The notion that the problems surrounding the House of Lords have been greatly exaggerated is a myth that can be quickly dispelled by looking at the facts. Prior to the House of Lords Act 1999, there were solely 16 female hereditary peers and 2 hereditary peers of ethnic minority in 1998 . The facts showed that the House of Lords was not only socially unrepresentative and undemocratic nature, but held a conservative bias; of the hereditary peers that existed, there were approximately 300 Conservatives, 200 Cross-benchers, 24 Liberal Democrats and 17 Labour peers . Furthermore, the Lords had a notoriously poor attendance record; Hereditary peers’ attendances were “lower than that of created peers”, but more emphatically, 67% of Life Peers from 1994-1997 failed to attend one third of ......(short extract)
To download the full answer, please Sign in or Register then make a payment or submit coursework.
Details: - Mark: 71% | Course: English Legal System | Year: 1st | Words: 1432 | References: Yes | Date written: November, 2007 | Date submitted: April 20, 2009 | Coursework ID: 487
