Democracy By Appointment

The House of Donors has voted in favour of an all-appointed upper chamber, rejecting by a substantial majority last week's non-binding Commons decision in favour of an all-elected one. The Vicar of Downing Street's preferred option of a half-appointed, half-elected upper chamber was rejected even more contemptuously, by four hundred and nine votes to forty-six. "Hybridity is not a connection to democracy," said Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean, herself an intriguing hybrid of public servant and profiteer; "it's a connection to constitutional uncertainty and electoral unfairness", disadvantages which apparently would be even more scrupulously avoided under an appointed House than they are under the present system. The Archbishop of York warned about "the risks of tampering with a centuries-old institution ... with widespread public support", thus implicitly comparing the House of Lords to the queer-bashing wing of the Anglican Communion. Meanwhile, a survey conducted by Charter 88 and the New Politics Network found that over sixty per cent of the public favour an all-elected upper chamber; fortunately the Lord Chancellor, Lord Falconer, has ruled out any prospect of a referendum, so there is no danger of the public gaining the impression that all this has anything to do with them.