House of Lords Reform

Part of Bill Presented – in the House of Commons at 3:46 pm on 6 March 2007.

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Photo of Jane Kennedy Jane Kennedy Labour, Liverpool, Wavertree 3:46, 6 March 2007

I am very grateful to my right hon. Friend for giving way. He has looked at the evidence from around the world and spoke of the United States as a having a strong second House. The relationship between a Member of Congress and their constituents is inevitably influenced by the fact that they are elected from a constituency of more than 500,000 electors. We have a very much closer and more precious relationship with our constituents, in my opinion. Could we not look closer to home and learn from the experience of Scotland? Having extra Members of Parliament in Scotland has created a degree of uncertainty and confusion that a lot of Labour Members certainly would not welcome here.