Speaking to The Westminster Hour for his first interview since
assuming his post on 1st May, – the newly
elected Speaker of the House of Lords – told Carolyn Quinn:
- That he and the “whole House of Lords” are behind the Burns
report recommendation to reduce the number of peers to 600
- He wants to discuss the size of the House of Lords with
“face to face”
- The sifting for new members should be “transferred to the House
itself”, away from the Cabinet Office
- The issue of suitability should be “up front” in determining
who gets a peerage
- Part of his job is “to reach out to the different areas of the
United Kingdom” – in a non-political way
House of Lords should be reduced to 600 peers
"We should certainly be vigorously continuing to look at reducing
the size of the House to a level which is no more than the House
of Commons.
"I don't rule out going along to see on that particular thing because actually when I was
in the Palace the other day there he did call me out as I was
passing to congratulate me. And I did say to him, 'look, I hope
to come and see you soon' and he said 'fine', so I think we will
continue that conversation."
Pressed on whether he thought the prime minister had given off
the impression he would listen to those calls, said:
"The only way you can get a satisfactory outcome or process is to
engage face to face, eye to eye, and I would like that
opportunity to talk to him on that one to one level."
Asked what he would say to the prime minister, told the
programme: "I would say to him that the House of Lords, the whole
House of Lords, is behind the Burns report because the House has
agreed on that and we would like to find a decent way of ensuring
that we get the size of the House down as a result of it and I've
got the whole House behind me on that." The Burns report also
recommended having 15 year fixed terms. said this was
“in the package as well” and “could be looked at.”
Power of patronage
Questioned on the prime minister's ability to appoint peers,
said he would
want to look at the powers of the House of Lords Appointments
Commission.
"At the moment, the power of the House of Lords Appointment
Commission are pretty minimal and I think in fact a lot of the
sifting for new members coming in is done at Cabinet Office level
by a number of civil servants. I would like that to be
transferred to the House itself."
Suitability criteria for members
also said he
would like to ensure that, in the appointment of new members, “we
have the issue of suitability up front”.
"In other words, what do they bring to the House? If they're
coming into the House, what contribution are they going to be
making? Because my point is that this is a working House. A lot
of peers work very, very hard here and if someone's coming into
the House then they have to be committed to working in it. So I
would like to see the House of Lords Appointments Commission
getting those powers and the authority for the House of Lords
Appointments Commission doesn't reside in Downing Street or
doesn't reside in Whitehall, but it resides in the House itself.
And that would be another part of the conversation that I would
like to have with the prime minister."
Union
The Speaker also discussed the importance he places on the union:
"I feel that in terms of the union, there's an important element
for the Lords' Speaker - in a non-political way - to reach out to
the different areas of the United Kingdom and I would like to
think that during the summer recess, if agreed with the other
parliaments and assemblies, that I will have a visit to talk to
the other politicians there, to engage. And the reason being is
that the House of Lords still has quite a lot of soft power, so I
want to deploy that soft power even more in a co-operative and in
a collaborative way by saying we're here to reach out to you on
this issue, in a non-political way."
