Will crisis over Brexit spark House of Lords reform?
Despite promises to the contrary, the ‘Clause 11’ sections of the bill relating to Scotland will now be amended in the House of Lords, not the House of Commons.
As SNP MP Stewart McDonald said: “So (controversial Baroness) Michelle Mone has more of a say on this bill than elected MPs.”
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Hide AdWhile the SNP have maintained a long-standing opposition to the House of Lords, it has been brought into sharp relief by the current row, which could be the forerunner to a full-blown constitutional crisis if Holyrood votes against giving ‘legislative consent’ to the bill.
It might not be their campaigning priority for the party to get rid of the House of Lords, but with the upper chamber not lacking problems, they could have some unlikely bedfellows.
We look at how Brexit could spark more life into an age-old debate on the future of one of the world’s oldest legislative bodies.
Mone-gate
The SNP have, even before the news about Clause 11 amendments broke, stepped up their criticism of the upper chamber over the festive period.
Having previously described the institution as a ‘national embarrassment’, the party produced research in December highlighting the spending by peers on subsidised alcohol.