Former lord speaker says Michael Gove’s plans to move the House of Lords out of London are ‘bonkeroony’
A former lord speaker has dismissed a suggestion by Michael Gove that peers should move to another part of the country while the House of Lords undergoes restoration work as “bonkeroony” and says the proposals are a “punishment” for challenging government legislation.
The Levelling Up Secretary is said to have written to Lord McFall of Alcluith suggesting locations including Wales, Scotland and Stoke-on-Trent, Burnley and Sunderland in England.
In the letter, reported in the Sunday Times, Mr Gove said he knows “cities and towns across the United Kingdom would be pleased to extend their hospitality to peers”.
Welcomed
Mr Gove is quoted as saying that having “carefully reviewed the proposed arrangements”, he “will not support the use of the QEII Centre as an alternative location” but said: “As the minister responsible for levelling up, it is clear to me that the House of Lords moving elsewhere, even for a temporary period, would be widely welcomed.”
“I propose to establish dedicated liaison points for you in my department to support you in identifying a suitable location for the House of Lords in the North, Midlands, South West, Scotland or Wales.
“I would, of course, be happy to meet you to discuss this.”
Baroness Hayman, a former Labour MP, said it did not make sense to move the upper chamber out of London while the Commons remain in the capital.
“I think it’s – what did Michael Gove say – bonkeroony?” she told BBC Radio 4’s The World This Weekend.
Lady Hayman said she believed ministers wanted to punish the Lords for challenging the Government over important legislation in the last parliamentary session.
“I think they are really quite angry with the House of Lords at the moment and, therefore, kick them out. It’s punishment.”
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moving the commons out of London would a fabulous idea. Turn Westminster into a tourist attraction a build a modern lower house that has a circular configuration of seatsin the Midlands .
Mmmm get rid of the wigs and knickerbockers and get in some computers.
Angry with the Lords? ….. Mmmm…… Send them out of the imperial tory-heap. That’ll teach them!
I think it would be great to have both the commons and the lord’s spend a few months sitting in Wales. We all need to be closer to our politicians that represent us as a country.
Oh eat excrement clone!
Why just a few months? The current building they are in is unfit for its purpose and should be closed down. Commons and Lords should be shifted away to somewhere that takes them closer to the people that they (fail to) represent. Wales would be good, but not Cardiff. Much better would be Macc or Aberystwyth. However, with them in Wales there might be competition with the Senedd. Perhaps Central England would make sense as a permanent new home. After all the building could then become the English Parliament after Scottish and Welsh independence have been achieved.
Did Gove really use the childish made up non-word “bonkeroony”? Good grief! And “we” let this strange parody of a human make laws?