Member

The point is that we were put here as a poison pill to ensure further democratic reform of the Lords, because it was realised that, if this House did not get some democratic legitimacy, it therefore, in many people’s eyes, should not have legitimacy to pass or interfere with legislation. Therefore, it was important to inject a proportion of democratic authority to this Chamber, so that it would not then be removed by another place on the grounds that we had no democratic legitimacy. That is what those of us who stayed all signed up to: that a second stage would happen.