Tory leader looks to Lords reform

David Cameron also faced an open question and answer session in Rhyl

Conservative leader David Cameron has told a meeting of students in north Wales he wants a part-elected House of Lords.

He said it was the proper way in a democracy for the House of Lords to be elected.

The Tory leader was speaking to politics students at Alun School in Mold as part of his party's European election campaign.

Mr Cameron also said he wanted more independence for backbench MPs.

Mr Cameron was hosting a question and answer session at Alun School with around 30 politics students and was asked about constitutional changes.

"The proper way in a democracy is for the House of Lords to be elected," he said.

"They have a lot of expertise so you might want to have partly elected, say 60 or 70%."

But Mr Cameron also told the students changes to the way the House of Commons worked was his first priority.

One of the great strengths of our system is you really can throw out the government David Cameron on first-past-the-post elections

Stressing his earlier comments, he said he wanted to give MPs greater independence from the whips.

"Backbenchers should elect the select committee members and the select committee members should elect the chairman," he said.

"So then you get proper independent backbenchers."

The Tory leader told the students he was firmly opposed to proportional representation, despite its use in elections to the Scottish Parliament and Welsh assembly.

He said it would undermine the link between MPs and their constituencies.

He also said the first-past-the-post system gave the electorate more chance to vote out the government.

'Fully transparent'

"One of the great strengths of our system is you really can throw out the government."

The Tory leader also faced an open question and answer session in Coleg Llandrillo in Rhyl.

The "Cameron Direct" event was the second to be held in Wales, after a similar session in Barry in February.

It is part of the Conservative campaign for elections to the European parliament on June 4 where the party is aiming to go beyond its present representation of one Welsh seat.

Meanwhile, the party's lead candidate in Wales, Kay Swinburne, promised she would let the public know what she would be claiming in expenses if elected.

"We....pledge as candidates in this election to actually make sure that our expenses are fully transparent," she said.

"All allowances will actually be online for anyone to see what we do and to judge whether or not we're value for money."

Being in Europe is the only way forward - otherwise we are going to be constantly separating and fighting wars Eddie Izzard, Labour-supporting comedian

Meanwhile, the other parties were continuing their campaigning elsewhere in Wales.

Comedian and actor Eddie Izzard was with Labour lead candidates Derek Vaughan and Lisa Stevens in Cardiff, where he said that he knew many people were "disgruntled", but he was encouraging them to listen to the arguments before the vote on 4 June.

He said the Allies had taken part in D-day on 6 June 1944 to fight "for democracy and for a Europe where people gave a damn and people could speak their minds"

"I'm very positive about Europe," he said. "It's about civilisation. That's what we do: that's the Labour Party stands for - it's about people's rights. Being in Europe is the only way forward - otherwise we are going to be constantly separating and fighting wars."

'Truly bilingual'

Plaid Cymru lead candidate Jill Evans was speaking at the Urdd Eisteddfod in Cardiff, where she said Wales was "on the way to being a truly bilingual nation".

She argued that since Plaid had entered coalition in the Welsh Assembly Government with Labour, "the momentum behind linguistic equality had moved up a gear".

The Plaid MEP said: "Plaid's Heritage Minister Alun Ffred Jones has constructed an excellent bid for powers over the Welsh language, and if accepted it will allow the Welsh government to introduce some long needed reforms".

Liberal Democrat lead candidate Alan Butt Philip will be focusing on sustainable development, with visits during the week to Llangattock, Powys, for a litter pick, and to the Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT) in Machynlleth.

Mr Butt Philip said the Welsh Liberal Democrats want "to work with organizations like CAT to ensure our desire to deliver a truly sustainable Wales is underpinned by sound science and research".

He accused the other parties of offering only "green rhetoric" and "contradictory economic and developmental aims for more roads, airports and non-renewable energy supply".