I think we all agree the House of Lords is out of date. I do think we need an upper house. A senate if you will. A place that is a critical friend to the commons. in the 14th century the evolution of our system made perfect sense. in tne 11 century our parliament was made up of tne Saxon Whitans, the nobles from the lands presided over by Saxon kings. In tne 14 century the representatives of villages and regional councils (commoners) started to meet separately. From that time on we had the system of lords (the clergy and law makers) and the commoners had separate houses. The 17th century finally saw the power of the government over monarchy realised and the commons became government with the lords having the stamp of approval. Suddenly the structure seems to have changed. The lords are an undemocratic and ineffectual legacy. The commons has become far detached from the idea of commoners and is the home of the rich and privileged it’s not just the Tory party either.
I love the idea of governance as a check and balance. In education, governors are in the main ley people. The role is to ensure the standard of education and the delivery is of the highest standard. And for non academics to bring a diversity of skills not always found in academia. In government we need an upper house to question and hold the commons to account. The upper house should be the police people of ethics and conduct. My suggestion would be to have an upper house made up from the elected representatives of the metropolitan areas and the counties of the Uk. It’s an ironic reversal of the traditional starting point. But the Mayors of our metro areas seem more representative of the people. If this principal was extended to counties, then we’d have our system. There are 82 county regions and 26 metro mayors (may not be exact in my figures) and of course we have 650 MPs. So I think the numbers are in proportion. There’s no need for the clergy or the lawmakers. These important parts of our democracy can exist as a powerful voice without the need to attend Parliament. The upper house would all be elected the mayors would operate within the right and left of Labour And conservative. I don’t think there’s any virtue in the Lord Sugar type appointees. That’s my new house of lords, just needs a name!
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who is jonathan glazier
