Independent peers demand greater say

Independent peers are calling for a rethink over who sits on the committee that will look at the next stage of Lords reform.

The cross-benchers claim that - with 180 seats in the main chamber - their quota of only two members on the joint committee of MPs and peers is not enough.

Meanwhile, the 26 bishops who sit in the main Lords chamber have not even been given one seat on the committee - a move condemned as "extraordinary" by a senior bishop.

The team charged with considering the future powers and shape of the Lords will include:

• 12 Labour members (four peers and eight MPs)
• Seven Conservatives (four peers and three MPs)
• Three Liberal Democrats (two peers and one MP)
• Two cross-benchers (both peers)

Cross-bencher Viscount Tenby said the situation "seems extraordinary", given that every authority on reform agreed on the importance of independent peers.

The Bishop of Guildford, the Rt Rev John Warren, said bishops spoke for the spiritual and moral needs of the whole community.

"I find it extraordinary that a mechanism has not been found for a representative from these benches to be at the table and contributing throughout the whole discussion.

"I do not see how the task can be done in our absence," he said.

The motion setting up the committee, without the bishops and with only two cross-benchers instead of three, was passed without a vote.