Theresa May suffered major defeats on Brexit in the House of Lords

Thursday, April 19th 2018 - 07:31 UTC

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Prime Minister Theresa May suffered two major defeats on Wednesday after a majority of the upper House of Parliament adopted an amendment supporting continued membership in the EU customs union after Brexit. The amendment to the EU Withdrawal Bill, which passed by 348 votes to 225, forces the government to report to Parliament by Oct. 31 on what steps it has taken to remain in the customs union. Read full article

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The Voice
Beginning of the end for the Lords gravy train? ”Playing with fire…
Apr 19th, 2018 - 10:14 am - Link - Report abuse -1
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Conqueror
As of this moment, there is an online petition on the UK Parliament website demanding a referendum on abolition of the House of Lords. The petition is open for signature for another three months. So far, nearly 39,000 people have signed it. It is an interesting petition because, if one opens the page and simply watches, one can watch the number of signatories increasing by leaps and bounds. It seems that ordinary people do not appreciate noting that “unelected and unaccountable individuals hold a disproportionate amount of influence and power which can be used to frustrate the elected representatives of the people”.

It's a trifle unfortunate because the House of Lords as previously constituted, with hereditary peers, performed a very useful function. It reviewed proposed legislation, considered ramifications and made suggestions. The turning point came when the House was “reorganised” with an overwhelming number of appointed political “life peers”. Presumably because our monarch let it be known that she was not prepared to countenance political “proper” peerages. Rather than abolish the House, I would prefer to see the political “life peers” abolished. In truth, they are attempting to become the “power” in Parliament and they must be stopped. Let it be said that the worst thing that the United Kingdom could do would be to institute an elected second chamber. As can be seen, WE still hold the upper hand BECAUSE the peers are unelected. If they become elected they will assume that the people support their power aspirations. It is clear that they care nothing for the expressed wishes of the people. The hubris of thinking that they know best!
Apr 19th, 2018 - 05:37 pm - Link - Report abuse -1
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DemonTree
@TV
I hope you don't agree with Conqueror. If the Lords never disagree with the Commons then there is no point having them. It would be much better to replace them with an elected upper chamber that both represents us better and feels able to act because they have a mandate from the electors to do so.

The amendment guaranteeing existing protections is barely mentioned but seems much more important to me. We do NOT want the government free to dick around with the laws quietly, without consulting parliament. (The same government you suspect of trying to frustrate Brexit and some of whose members you have called evil...)
Apr 19th, 2018 - 08:33 pm - Link - Report abuse -1
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Yaigulah3x
The question is why is this piece appearing in Mercopenguin, a British government propaganda organ supposedly devoted to America, South America and the “South Atlantic”?
Apr 20th, 2018 - 02:48 am - Link - Report abuse +1
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