Tories against reform of second chamber could join forces with opposition to scupper bill
The coalition's difficulties over Lords reform deepened on Friday when Labour said it would demand a referendum before an elected House is agreed, opening up the possibility that Tories opposed to reform would join forces with Labour to throw fresh hurdles in the way of the change.
The reform bill, seen as a test of the coalition's durability, will need a strong Commons vote in favour of reform before it is passed to the Lords.
Sadiq Khan, the shadow justice secretary, said: "We are not playing games with any Tories over this issue, but in our manifesto we said a change as important as an elected second chamber should be put to the people in a referendum. That remains our position.
"We held a referendum to decide a new voting system for the Commons, the first chamber, and the British people would not understand why we were not having a referendum for the second chamber if it is to be elected by a new proportional voting system, as is proposed.
"Change of this kind of importance cannot be imposed by the political classes from on high without a referendum."
Lords reform is likely to be the centrepiece of the Queen's speech on 9 May and Nick Clegg is likely to ask for the bill to be pushed through the Commons early, in expectation that some peers will seek to wreck Lords business when the bill reaches them.
The bill, since it is a constitutional measure, will have its committee stages held on the floor of the Commons, rather than in a standing committee, in which a smaller number of MPs sit, away from the main chamber. A draft bill is currently being examined by a Lords and Commons joint committee under the chairmanship of the Labour peer Lord Richard.
Khan said: "It is increasingly clear there are unresolved problems over this bill regarding the powers of the second chamber, its composition and the transition.
"Nick Clegg in search of a legacy is pushing ahead so fast, but he is leaving behind a bill that is all over the place. I don't think that if peers in the second chamber are elected they are going to be happy to see themselves restricted to a revising role with powers over financial privilege resting solely in the Commons.
"Clegg seems to have tried to brush all these issues about powers out of the way in the hope that he can get this through quickly, but it is not going to work.
"There are also going to be issues about the accountability of peers that are elected for 15 year terms."
In a further setback for advocates of Lords reform, it is becoming increasingly clear that the committee itself is deeply divided over what to recommend in response to the draft bill. Joint committees are not allowed to issue minority reports, making it likely the committee will issue more of a commentary on the draft bill, rather than a report with strong recommendations to the government.
Khan noted the degree of opposition to an elected second chamber in the Conservative party. This week the influential centrist backbench MP Jesse Norman issued a strong call for the billon an elected second chamber to be dropped.
He argued a consensus existed for more limited reform stopping short of elections, "such as a reduction in the size of the House; the ending of elections for hereditary peers; a retirement process; a more independent process of appointment; and removal of peers who have committed serious criminal offences".