Neil Parpworth on the matter of reforming the powers of the House of Lords
In its manifesto published prior to the 7 May 2015 General Election, the Conservative Party proposed to do a great many things if elected, including the introduction of “English votes for English laws” and the repeal of the Human Rights Act 1998. Progress has been made on both of these constitutional issues. Thus the Standing Orders of the House of Commons have been amended to provide for new legislative procedures in the case of “English-only” legislation, and the publication of a consultation paper on a British Bill of Rights is eagerly awaited. The manifesto contained no proposals, however, on House of Lords reform. Rather, it was made clear that this would not be a priority for a new Conservative government. Things have now changed as a consequence of the events which took place in the House of Lords on 26 October 2015 when their Lordships rejected the Draft Tax Credits (Income Thresholds and Determination of Rates) (Amendment) Regulations 2015 drafted pursuant to the Tax Credits Act 2002. The government’s defeat led to the prime
