Time limit for Lords bill debate

The House of Lords is facing further modernisation

Ministers want a time limit on how long bills can spend in the Upper House, Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer has said.

The government also wants to remove the remaining hereditaries and allow MPs a free vote on the House's composition.

Oliver Heald, for the Tories, said ministers were trying to "disable" the House of Lords and accused Tony Blair of showing contempt for Parliament.

But Lord Falconer argued: "Nothing we do is going to prevent the Lords rejecting bits of legislation."

He said a joint committee of both Houses would be set up to review the conventions of the Lords, such as whether peers refrain from opposing manifesto commitments of the government.

"I believe those conventions exist and that they work on a day-to-day basis," said the lord chancellor.

"But on occasion, such as the Hunting Bill, they are breached."

92 remaining hereditaries

Lord Falconer would not confirm whether Lords reform legislation would be in next week's Queens Speech.

But Mr Heald said: "For eight years, Mr Blair has sought to sideline and marginalise the House of Commons.

"Now he wants to disable the House of Lords, the only chamber of Parliament these days that is able to stand up to him and ensure that government legislation is properly debated and examined."

For the Lib Dems, Lord Goodhart said it was important for the Lords to have the freedom to decide how long it needed to debate bills.

"We think it is wholly improper and unconstitutional that the government should impose restrictions on the procedures of the House of Lords when there is no evidence that the Lords has abused its powers," he said.

All but 92 hereditary peers were removed in 1999 in changes that were meant to be the first stage of Lords reform.

Stalled reforms

But there was no consensus on seven options for further changes, which ranged from an all-appointed upper house to a fully-elected one.

The government later tried to remove the remaining hereditaries but dropped the plan because of Lords' opposition.

The Lords can currently delay bills by up to a year under the Parliament Act, which was used to force through the hunting ban.

A cross-party group, including Labour's Robin Cook and Tony Wright, plus Tory Ken Clarke have pushed for a 70% elected chamber.