House of Lords could move to Wales while Westminster rebuilt, Michael Gove suggests
The House of Lords should relocate outside of London rather than moving to a building nearby during refurbishment works, and Wales is among one of the possible destinations, Michael Gove has said.
The Levelling Up Secretary is said to have written to Lord McFall of Alcluith suggesting locations including Stoke-on-Trent, Burnley and Sunderland.
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”.
He 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”.
The Queen Elizabeth II Centre conference and exhibition space is just a few minutes’ walk from the Palace of Westminster in London.
In the letter, which the Sunday Times said was also sent to Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Cabinet Secretary Simon Case, Mr Gove suggested a move elsewhere in England, Scotland or Wales.
He is reported to have written: “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 have carefully reviewed the proposed arrangements and… I will not support the use of the QEII Centre as an alternative location.
“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.”
Restoration
A spokesperson for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities declined to comment on the plans.
Earlier this year, a report showed that restoring the Palace of Westminster without finding a new home for MPs could take up to 76 years, with a repairs bill reaching £22 billion.
The project’s sponsor body and delivery authority said the cheapest option would involve a “full decant” of the palace for between 12 and 20 years, with the work costing in the region of £7 billion to £13 billion.
In this scenario, with MPs elsewhere for much of the time, the report estimated the restoration would take between 19 and 28 years.
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No
Obviously the Lords would have to allow speeches in Welsh if they were located in Wales. Is that what Michael Gove is proposing?
We have our own Senedd we don’t need the English Parliament in Wales
Absolutely no. Get rid of the lot of them. Replace them with two fully elected chambers in a semi-circular forum, not this antiquated public school debating chamber.
The (democratic) Senedd could be run for a 100 years for this kind of money.
We don’t need Tory Gove in Wales; we already have here is our Senedd, which will root out and thoroughly cleanse all the corrupted lies, the arrogant hatred of our nation and the avaricious greed that have so dirtied and sullied mega-rich Westminster. What we want is independence.
Ruanda would be better.
Gove suggesting the klingon lords move to Wales is because they’ll have a shorter commute from their 2nd homes.
Given that the Lords is entirely London centric and over 80% of them live in London full-time they should stay there until HMQ dies and we dismantle feudalism once and for all.
Dim diolch!
Give us more powers for our Senedd instead.
Nope! Don’t recognise their aristocracy scam. Don’t recognise their royals. Don’t recognise these unelected elitists trespassing on mother Cymru.
Be off with you, Norman knaves!
Is this another of their stupid attempts at keeping the Union together – shot an unelected chamber out of London. There is so much more they could do to keep the Union together but aren’t bothering and that’s good for Cymru as we’ll be better off out anyway.
lol I do not think the Lords would want to come to Wales, a Yes Cymru field day.#IndyWales
Yeah can you imagine the general public’s response to seeing the “lords” flouncing around in their pantaloons and their ermine dresses? It’s pathetic enough that the courts wear big black dresses and powdered wigs.
Honestly the “United” Kingdom is just a ridiculous faux historical theme park. What the Americans would call a Renaissance Fair (except the actual Renaissance period was also known as the age of knowledge and 21st century UK is anything but)
The only lord I’d welcome to Wales is Dafydd Wigley. The others can be shipped to Rwanda with the entire Conservative party.
Where in Wales would they go?? And I can guess who would likely pay for them to overstay their welcome.
No, thank you.