Lords Mess, German Poll Surge & Trump Winning

The Westminster system needs urgent reform.

Hello and welcome back to Heaver News! I hope you are all well.

A big welcome to Suzanne, the latest paid subscriber! To support this newsletter and read every article in full consider becoming a paid subscriber today.

Stuart Mitchell/@IncMonocle

It still seems bizarre to me that the Westminster system functions with an unelected House of Lords.

What does it offer aside from slowing down the legislative process? And of course those often opposing the elected Government’s policies are insulated from being held accountable at elections.

It has long seemed strange to me, with the Liberal Democrats for instance gigantically overrepresented with over 80 Peers in the Lords. Why?

Let’s not forget the LibDems are now a party regularly found to have less public support in national opinion polls than Reform UK.

A radical Conservative Government harnessing the Brexiteer-backing it received in 2019 should have pushed through post-Brexit reforms to enhance our democracy.

Having left the EU and taken back control, the Conservatives should have been bold enough to shake-up the entire Westminster system.

The research I’ve seen points to large scale public support for either abolishing the Lords or at least ensuring there are elections and democratic accountability.

YouGov found this year that just 7% of the public now back a Lords that is mostly appointed. 7%!

When it comes to the the Government’s Illegal Migration Bill - their solution to stop the boats - the Lords system has become particularly exposed.