MOST people agree that the time for change in the House of Lords is long overdue.

But they are split on what those changes should entail.

The Government's proposal, to be announced today, to remove the voting rights of hereditary peers without setting up an alternative upper chamber has not been received with enthusiasm by the majority of voters.

Most people want to see a democratically elected upper house.

But the setting up of such an electoral system would be no easy task.

It is important that we should have a second house or, in cricket parlance, a long stop.

Sadly, Britain has persisted with a dusty, outdated second tier for far too long. It is at odds with government in the modern world.

It is wrong that hereditary peers should be able to swamp the House of Lords when many of them are only there by accidents of birth hundreds of years ago.

But it would be equally wrong to replace this archaic set-up with representatives who smacked of Government patronage.

The upper house would then become a rubber-stamp operation, depending on which political party was in power. There has to be some system of democratically electing the members of an upper tier which ensures there is a political balance.

But this would be difficult to establish. If it was held at the same time as a general election the chances are that the upper house would merely reflect the results at the

lower level. The House of Lords, or whatever name was chosen, would be nothing more than a carbon copy of the House of Commons.

If we adopted a system similar to the one which has served the USA for many years, a

Senate and a House of Representatives, we would risk importing their problems of constant log jams and stalemates.

It is time to change. But the change must be meaningful.

Sweeping away a system which belongs to another age is all very well. But its replacement must be one which will help the country to progress and not one which blocks legislation purely on political grounds.

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