Peers versus people, round two.(move to remove hereditary peers from British House of Lords)

From: The Economist (US) | Date: November 21, 1998 | Copyright information

The efforts of the Labor government in the United Kingdom to remove hereditary peers from the House of Lords are a continuation of the Liberal Party reforms that resulted in the Parliament Act of 1911. Laborites are portraying the measure as a move to democracy and meritocracy, while Conservatives are attacking it as an effort to remove one of the few checks on the prime minister's power.

Nothing can stop the government's plan to expel hereditary peers from Parliament. But the battle for public opinion may not be straightforward

AFTER a gap of a mere 89 years, battle has been joined ...

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