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I do find something exhilarating in the idea of sweeping away the cobwebs of the past, of looking for new ways to give people a real voice in the process of government. Yet at the same time, I feel an abiding fondness for the great traditions of our history. In the end, reason must decide. There is no denying the unfairness of a system that gives legislative power to men (of course 98% of them are men) just because they were born into the right family.
There is a deep flaw, however, in the government's proposals. Reformation of the House of Lords would be welcome if there were a coherent plan. But strangely, the government is rushing forward with Stage 1 before even discussing Stage 2. "That will come later," we are told mysteriously. Will it? Or will the government be tempted to forget about complex constitutional reforms, so long as it has the majority it requires? When we do eventually reform what is left of the house, what will it be like? What will it do? Nobody knows. The government is unwilling even to discuss it. Nor will it say at what date it might be ready to discuss it. Surely we shouldn't destroy a great institution before we have thought of something better to replace it?
After all, if we remove the hereditary peers, we will be left only with those who have received their peerages through political party patronage, the 492 so-called life peers. And over the next few years, the Labour government will be tempted to pack the upper house with more and more of its own supporters--"Tony's cronies," as some would have it. It could become a palace of unelected hacks and dogsbodies, unlikely to provide independent and considered advice. There is at least some legitimacy in ancient tradition; there will be none in the short-term political convenience of the executive.
Sadly for some, I am not about to be abolished. I am one of the life peers who will remain after the hereditary peers are gone. Perhaps I should relish the removal of the "Old Guard." But I don't.
LORD JEFFREY ARCHER is a novelist and Conservative Party politician; he is also a likely candidate for mayor of London.