Quote:
Exclusive: Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, urged to scrap most bishops' seats in House of Lords- Former Labour minister, Frank Field, claims poor voting turnout shows seats are being 'wasted'
A senior MP has called for most of the 25 bishops who sit in the House of Lords to lose their seats because they play "gesture politics" but rarely turn up to vote.Frank Field, a former Labour minister and ex-member of the Church of England General Synod, has launched a stinging attack on bishops who criticise government policies and yet do not bother to vote against them when they have the chance.
Writing in The Independent, Mr Field called on the new Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev Justin Welby, to revive Lords reform by handing most of the 25 seats to people from employers, trade unions, universities, the arts, armed forces, the law, the media and women's and children's groups.
I agree in part with Frank Field. I actually think we should maybe have a lottery system for the Lords or something like that.
Whatever the case, the religious element of the Lords is an archaic hangover from a time when this country was far more deeply religious than it is now. Those Christians that want to get involved in politics should be standing for election and get elected either on their own merit (hard to do), or they should just stand for one of the major parties - if they'll accept them.
12 May 2013, 3:51 am
