andygardener Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 What's democratic about a House of Lords of unelected officials who have the power to pass legislation? Is there any other country in the EU that has a system of government like that? I doubt it. I'd stick to critiquing your adoptive homes governmental system as you have clearly forgotten how ours works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uptowngirl Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 What's democratic about a House of Lords of unelected officials who have the power to pass legislation? Is there any other country in the EU that has a system of government like that? I doubt it. I doubt there is a country in the world that has such a system. The UK certainly doesn't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harleyman Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 I'd stick to critiquing your adoptive homes governmental system as you have clearly forgotten how ours works. Are members of the House of Lords elected or not? ---------- Post added 25-01-2013 at 16:50 ---------- I see you have scant knowledge of how the UK Parliamentary system works. I know how the house of commons works alright. I lived there for 25 years. My question is about the House of Lords? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFKvsNixon Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 Whose to say that even if we left the EU we wouldn't still be dominated by them? It's also worth noting that if we were to continue to trade with the EU countries we'd have to abide by their regulations for the traded goods as well, without having any say in any of those regulations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uptowngirl Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 Are members of the House of Lords elected or not? ---------- Post added 25-01-2013 at 16:50 ---------- I know how the house of commons works alright. I lived there for 25 years. My question is about the House of Lords? The House of Lords is not elected, but neither do they make law so it really is irrelevant. We don't elect cab driver but they don't make law either. ---------- Post added 25-01-2013 at 17:08 ---------- Whose to say that even if we left the EU we wouldn't still be dominated by them? It's also worth noting that if we were to continue to trade with the EU countries we'd have to abide by their regulations for the traded goods as well, without having any say in any of those regulations. Wouldn't that be like EFTA and just about any country on earth. Trade works 2 ways. So if Europe wants free trade with you they need to allow free trade in return. EFTA has imput into EU regulations its members just choose not to be a member of a federal Europe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harleyman Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 ]The House of Lords is not elected' date=' but neither do they make law so it really is irrelevant[/b']. We don't elect cab driver but they don't make law either. ---------- Post added 25-01-2013 at 17:08 ---------- Wouldn't that be like EFTA and just about any country on earth. Trade works 2 ways. So if Europe wants free trade with you they need to allow free trade in return. EFTA has imput into EU regulations its members just choose not to be a member of a federal Europe. Ever heard of the Lord's Day Observance Society? Many of them were members of the House of Lords. Every time the House of Commons passed a motion to liberalize Sunday licensing laws it died when it reached the H of L. For years our generation knew nothing but miserable deadly boring Sundays when restaurants, shops and pubs were closed or at best open for only a very few hours that day And you say they were/are irrelevent ? What does the H of L exist for anyway??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uptowngirl Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 Ever heard of the Lord's Day Observance Society? Many of them were members of the House of Lords. Every time the House of Commons passed a motion to liberalize Sunday licensing laws it died when it reached the H of L. For years our generation knew nothing but miserable deadly boring Sundays when restaurants, shops and pubs were closed or at best open for only a very few hours that day And you say they were/are irrelevent ? What does the H of L exist for anyway??? I haven't got a clue what you are talking about. I can't say that Sunday is too much different from any other day if you want to go shopping, go to the pub or a rock concert. Perhaps you are simply out of touch. The House of Lords is there to vet bills that have passed through the commons. They can reject bills and make suggestions, but if the commons wants to they can push a bill through the house of lords and ignore the Lords opinion. So the Lords have no powers to make law nor do they have ultimate power to impose its will on any bill passed by the commons. It has worked fine for centuries. We don't find the need to keep shooting presidents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeMaquis Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 Ever heard of the Lord's Day Observance Society? Many of them were members of the House of Lords. Every time the House of Commons passed a motion to liberalize Sunday licensing laws it died when it reached the H of L. That can't possibly be true as Sunday trading laws were in fact liberalised in the 90s. The only power the House Of Lords has that I'm aware of is that they can block legislation from the Commons for up to one parliamentary session (a few months). They can't legislate. The Commons can invoke the Parliament Acts to get round any Lords obstruction. I'm not defending the Lords. It should be abolished and replaced with an elected upper chamber. It's a toothless, irrelevant anachronism. On this side of the pond liberalise doesn't have a z. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyofborg Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 ...... but if the commons wants to they can push a bill through the house of lords and ignore the Lords opinion. actually, that's not quite correct. the following types of bills are not subject to the powers of the parliament acts: Bills prolonging the length of a Parliament beyond five years Private Bills Bills sent up to the Lords less than a month before the end of a session Bills which start in the Lords Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harleyman Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 I haven't got a clue what you are talking about. I can't say that Sunday is too much different from any other day if you want to go shopping, go to the pub or a rock concert. Perhaps you are simply out of touch. The House of Lords is there to vet bills that have passed through the commons. They can reject bills and make suggestions, but if the commons wants to they can push a bill through the house of lords and ignore the Lords opinion. So the Lords have no powers to make law nor do they have ultimate power to impose its will on any bill passed by the commons. It has worked fine for centuries. We don't find the need to keep shooting presidents. Well I'm not surpised you didnt know what I was talking about. Most of you lot dont have a clue about pre-Beatles Britain. Seems to me that the H of L is a total waste of time from your comments. Just one of those archaic things that originated centuries ago when it was deemed necessary to have a bunch of Lords around to keep an eye on the "commoner members of parliament" in case they got ideas into their heads to pass laws that might disturb the social status quo. But it's all in the name of tradition eh even if it is a waste of time just like Black Rod banging on the doors of Parliament with his stave before the Queen is allowed to enter. No you dont shoot monarchs, just unarmed demonstrators in the streets of Derry and then let the officers in charge get away with it afterwards ---------- Post added 25-01-2013 at 19:55 ---------- That can't possibly be true as Sunday trading laws were in fact liberalised in the 90s. The only power the House Of Lords has that I'm aware of is that they can block legislation from the Commons for up to one parliamentary session (a few months). They can't legislate. The Commons can invoke the Parliament Acts to get round any Lords obstruction. I'm not defending the Lords. It should be abolished and replaced with an elected upper chamber. It's a toothless, irrelevant anachronism. On this side of the pond liberalise doesn't have a z. You werent a child of the fifties then. You would have an eye opener if you had been. Agree with you on the H of L. Harbour doesnt have a U in it this side of the pond if we're getting into pettifogging discussions on spelling differences Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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