Member

We all know the strength of the contribution that hereditaries have made to our discussions, but if one adopted the phase-out that the amendment in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Parkinson, suggests, we would see the press write not about the contribution that the hereditaries have made but about a last-ditch effort to save the hereditaries. Ping-pong would be disastrous for the image of this House; it would be poison. We really need not to get into that game.