House of Lords review launched

The UK Government has announced a review of the House of Lords led by Tory peer Lord Strathclyde.

On Monday the upper house voted to delay cuts to tax credits announced by Chancellor George Osborne, breaking a tradition of not blocking financial legislation known as the House of Commons’ ‘financial privilege’.

Commons Speaker John Bercow said there had been no “procedural impropriety”, but Osborne reacted angrily, saying it had "raised constitutional issues".

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Liberal Democrat and Labour peers were joined by prominent Conservatives in delaying tax credits reforms.

Lord Strathclyde told the BBC’s World at One the Lords had behaved wrongly, and he wanted the review concluded “fairly speedily”.

“On Monday, gleefully and capriciously, the House of Lords voted it down so as to try and engineer this semi-crisis,” he said.

Former Conservative leader Lord Howard welcomed the review. “The basic principal is this; the House of Commons is elected, the House of Lords is not,” he told BBC radio this morning.

Former Lords speaker, the independent Baroness Hayman said the review must not be seen a “punishment” for defying the Government’s position.

The use of Statutory Instruments, the convention by which the tax credits changes were introduced, also needs to be reviewed, she added.

“I don’t think it's satisfactory when major issues of policy are brought through with the very limited scrutiny that’s possible for the Commons on the Lords under a statutory instrument,” she said.

Labour’s Shadow Leader of the Commons Chris Bryant used an emergency question in the Commons to say the review threatened to "dismantle the checks and balances" that restrain governments.