The Problems in Hand

The Liberal Democrat commitment to Lord's reform has raised more than a few eyebrows - not to mention heckles - amongst political opponents and the public at large. Pressing economic concerns have provoked calls for these constitutional reforms to be relegated to the back-burner. So it comes as no surprise that its inclusion in the Queen's Speech has received coverage (BBC, 2012).

The Speech from the Throne - where the Queen addresses Parliament with the government's program of legislation for the coming year - is a very prominent place to promote prospective legislation. Including Lords reform in such a prominent announcement is quite a statement of intent.  However Lib Dem leader Mr Nick Clegg has reassured people that while the reforms are priority for him and the party, it is not taking precedence over the twin problems of the economic recovery and unemployment (Clegg, 2012).

This assurance is backed up by the presence of several bills on the program for 2012.

The first element are bills covering business reforms. Those bills aim to intervene in and clean up various industries; from seeking to 'ring-fence' the riskier elements of banking away from the high street, to the 'Groceries Code Adjudicator Bill' seeking to assure fair deals between producers and supermarkets.

The second element are the provisions to establish a number of investment funds. The Green Investment Bank included in the Queen's Speech, alongside the previously set up Regional Growth Fund (Mulholland, 2011), furthers the government's interventionist approach - in this case trying to open up access to credit for potential employers across various industries.

In all, those elements describe a strategy aimed at getting money flowing to new businesses creating jobs and to reorganise old businesses to prevent the mistakes of the past. Whatever your opinion of the quality of the government response to the UK's economic woes - and there is opposition - their strategy represents legislation aimed at the key issues. So why is reforming the House of Lords sitting alongside that strategy?

The answer would seem to be consistency. Or as Douglas Adams put it: 'interconnectedness'.

Lords reform is an attempt to establish some consistency in our political values - to create transparent democracy across the board. On the one hand to prevent the failures of the past, and on the other to prevent accusations of hypocrisy; particularly as the government continues to push matters like democracy in business boardrooms - with shareholders voting on executive pay and other previous recommendations.

The key now as the government drives forward with Lords reform has to be the making of clear arguments. Specifically, the government has to be clear about the essential role political and constitutional reform will play in an overhaul. To prevent the mistakes of the past - but also as part of the solution to the problems in hand.

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References:
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+ BBC's 'Queen's Speech: Battle begins over House of Lords reform'; 9 May 2012.

+ Nick Clegg's 'Local elections: this coalition is stable and the centre will hold'; 6 May 2012.

+ Helene Mulholland's 'Regional growth fund will create thousands of new jobs, says Nick Clegg'; in The Guardian; 31 October 2011.