At first I just started typing a basic response, but then over an hour of two I actually came up with something with which I'm rather pleased. It may not be the best idea in the world as the title misleadingly suggests, but it may be one of my best.
If the goverment implemented this, I think we'd all be living in a slightly better country.
Before discussing the House of Lords, first by way of background, the House of Commons must be discussed.
The current problem with the elected house (Commons) is that they are not independent.
First each MP is subject to his or her party. This means, if one has a safe seat, then all they need to do is always go with the party line and they will always have a job. After all, the party is never going to remove a candidate that always votes the way they want them to. This is great for the party, terrible for everyone else, because it bypasses the wishes of the electorate.
Second, each MP is subject to being lobbied. Powerful self interest groups that don’t necessarily represent the views of the country as a whole can hold huge sway over the Commons. The reason for this is that if they do something against the self interest group, they will be slammed by that group to their subscribers. This means that instead of looking to the long term benefit of the country, every MP is only thinking what will make them look good to the lobbying groups in the next five minutes. This isn’t in anyone’s interest either.
To make the Lords like the commons would just serve to compound these problems, rather than balance them, so, to solve both these problems the following measure ought to be instituted in the reformed House of Lords:
1) 1) The House of Lords must have a limited number of members, each of which is replaced on a cycle;
2) 2) Each member of the House CANNOT be a member of the political parties. The Lords are to represent the people, and thus it is them to whom they must listen. Any strong associate of a Lord to the House of Commons parties, or too much interacting with their chief whips etc would be seen in the same was as a Judge finishing a case and then going for coffee with the Defendant, totally inappropriate professionally, professional code of conduct would be drawn up to this effect, with potential dismissal if breached a few times;
3) 3) This may be contentious but the House must not be elected. This may sound strange but it is totally necessary. Instead the members of the House should be chosen by a group of people, like a jury, drawn at random from the electoral register, this means they will be chosen by people representative of ‘the people’ (statistically proportionate of all races, genders, social classes etc) and they will be chosen independently of the parties, it will also mean that candidates can be personally interviewed if necessary, it will also mean that there will be no point ‘lobbying’ the group, as after they have made their decision they will be disbanded;
4) 4) It is essential that the House of Lords is elected in a staggered fashion. For example, if they are replaced every 10 years, it is essential that they are not all done at the same time, but rather in sets of 2 each month for example. This is important because in the House of Commons there is the tendency to screw the public through the term and then grant favourable tax breaks of benefits when the elections are coming. This doesn’t help anyone, therefore if they are elected continually then there will be an element of consistency (ironically). This would also get rid of the current pattern where the government swaps each time there is a recession, because the people are just generally less satisfied during that period. There would be gradual change not instant shifts depending on how the FTSE is doing.
(It should now be clear why 3 is essential, while one couldn’t possibly have an election every month, it is possible to have a jury selection two new Lords each month)
5) 5) Selection of the short list:
The short list for the ‘jury’ to decide must be picked thus third from the people on the electoral roll, two thirds from specialists.
The first group must be taken again from random from the electoral roll. They have the option to opt out if they so desire but otherwise are free to represent the people.
The second group should be made up of specialists; this will be a mix, partly of people who have helped society and partly those who have useful training. An example list would be:
Self made business man;
small but successful charity worker;
economist;
Doctor (physician);
First generation lawyer;
Mathematics teacher.
It is of utmost importance that no one in this second group have a history in politics, the Lords must not be a place where useless politicians go to die. Also they should not be workers for campaign groups. This should not count as a charity. The emphasis should always been on the first two categories, on the logic being that self made businessmen clearly have good business acumen and if they took a company to success themselves they are unlikely to be a product of nepotism. Then people who have worked for charities helping the poor or orphans etc here or abroad genuinely care about people. People fighting for ‘X’s rights does not count as this would open up the system to obvious bias. Economists and other specialist (assuming the jury chooses to elect them) will come in handy in the House of Lords when arguments stray into specialist areas.
The ratio may be tweaked, depending on what works most effectively.
If these points were taken into account we would not have a House that just mimics the problems of the House of Commons, but we would have a house that BALANCES the problems of the House of Commons. Not only that but it would be almost totally protected from the interference of the political parties and therefore they would be able to do what genuinely is in the long term interests of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Further the House would not be filled with career politicians, but rather it will be filled with salt of the earth men and women who have actually made the country a better place through their own hard work and competence, either through private enterprise or through compassion and dedication, or most likely; both.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------That said I came up with the idea in one morning, so it may take a day or two for any flaws to show themselves. All in all though, it looks like a winner!
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