Here’s how we could reform the Lords for the 21st century | Letters
I’m sure that your editorial (25 December) is right that one of the reasons reforming the House of Lords is taking so long under this government is that there is no clear path ahead, after abolition of the hereditary peers.A fundamental principle is to retain the revising role of the upper chamber.To that end, it needs great expertise.It should, of course, be largely elected, but that would not necessarily ensure that expertise.It should also not be too large and should have continuity.
So here is what I suggest should happen: each parliamentary constituency should be joined with an adjacent one, and those 300-plus each elect one member.These would constitute three-quarters of the upper house.They would have their places for 15 years, with elections of one-third every five years, the initial and second thirds to be decided by lot.The final quarter of the chamber, so just over 100, would be appointed by a committee of the previously appointed members, each also to be appointed for 15 years, with similar transitional arrangements, and the first set to be appointed by the current independent lords.The given proportions of these would be selected from various areas, such as sciences, arts, teaching, former top civil servants, etc.
And I couldn’t care less what the members of the upper chamber are called.Venetia CaineGlastonbury, Somerset Your editorial outlined just how undemocratic and easily abused the House of Lords is, even if the proposed changes were to be enacted.I suggest we abolish it and turn it into a considerably smaller, proportionately elected senate with equal powers to the lower house to represent our Celtic nations and English super-regions within a new “devo max” federal architecture.This could be part of a modern written constitution to sweep away our antiquated and overcentralised status quo.Keir Starmer, wrongly, lays the blame for our ineffective performance as a country on our civil service, when in reality it is our 19th-century governing structures that hold us back.
A commission of experts in social, political and economic sciences chaired by Prof Danny Dorling could be tasked to work out the detail.The brief would be to look at effective elements of systems elsewhere; appropriate checks and balances at all levels to pluralise power; how to generate strong participatory communities; proportional representation at all levels, including the lower house; a federal president separate from the executive to chair the senate and consensually modify the constitution when needed, alongside a constitutional court.This role could leave the monarch with a purely ceremonial function and hopefully allow a future seamless transition to a republic.All these structures and functions could also accommodate an organic, bottom-up, widespread use of citizens’ assemblies/sortition for important issues.It is crucial to resurrect genuine localism and grassroots participation.
Philip WoodKidlington, Oxfordshire There is no need to start from scratch to determine what is required to reform the Lords.In 2007, the School of Public Policy at University College London set up an all-party group of senior politicians to analyse the issue.Its comprehensive report considered the constitutional difficulties, including the key relationship between the two houses of parliament, and proposed practical solutions.The report even includes a draft bill, all in 53 pages.I have always been puzzled why this key document languishes on the shelf instead of being accepted by all concerned.
Why reinvent the wheel?Michael MeadowcroftLeeds Your editorial is right to criticise the timidity of Labour’s plans for changes to the House of Lords.There is no good reason, as you suggest, that we cannot be given an appropriate parliamentary title without being described as lords.Nor should any new peers be appointed for life.It is a source of frustration that the writing on the wall for hereditary members was not just in Labour’s 2024 manifesto but also in that of 1997.Prior to Labour’s victory that year, I worked with Pat McFadden as joint secretaries of the Lib-Lab commission planning for constitutional reform in the event of a Tory defeat in that election.
Much was agreed and delivered, including devolution to Scotland and Wales, with elections on a proportional basis,But major long-term failures of Tony Blair’s government related to making the Lords more democratic and holding a referendum on electing MPs by proportional representation,I suggested that a referendum could have covered both reforms,With Blair’s support, such a referendum would have been won and the country would be in a much better place today, without much of the agony of the last quarter of a century,Chris RennardLiberal Democrat, House of Lords Do you have a photograph you’d like to share with Guardian readers? If so, please click here to upload it.
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Luke Littler reveals that rewatching last year’s final defeat inspired PDC triumph
Luke Littler has revealed how watching back his defeat in last year’s final in the hours before facing Michael van Gerwen gave him the inspiration to become the youngest world darts champion in history.The 17-year-old produced a nerveless performance to beat Van Gerwen 7-3 to lift his first PDC world title. But he insisted that looking back at his 7-4 loss to Luke Humphries last January on YouTube had given him a premonition of how he could win the biggest match of his life.“Earlier today I watched all the game back against Luke and I had the visions,” said Littler. “I knew what went wrong last year
Littler’s imperious PDC world title may be start of darting domination
The 17-year-old made history with his thrilling victory over Michael van Gerwen but who knows how many more he could win?There was a final flick of the fingers, before the fists began to pump and soar, and the tears started to flow across 17-year-old Luke Littler’s face. No wonder. The most famous teenager in the country had just become the youngest world champion in darts history.Over the past 13 months, Littler has repeatedly defied the rules of sporting gravity, rising from an unknown 16-year-old ranked world No 164 to its star attraction. Now, incredibly, he is also the PDC world champion after a thumping 7-3 victory of the three-time former winner Michael Van Gerwen, which also earned him a £500,000 cheque
Luke Littler beats Michael van Gerwen 7-3 to win PDC World Darts Championship final – as it happened
That’s it for our coverage of an historic night at Alexandra Palace, where Luke Littler confirmed the bleedin’ obvious: that he is a multi-generational talent who could become the greatest goat of all time. Oh, and that there has never been a worse time to be an aspiring male darts player.I’ll leave you with Jonathan Liew’s report from Ally Pally. Thanks as always for your company and emails. Goodnight!AveragesLittler 102
Luke Littler thrashes Michael van Gerwen to claim historic world title
Tonight the Palace; tomorrow the planet. Whatever Luke Littler goes on to achieve in the fields of darts, celebrity or world peace, nothing will ever quite match the crystalline beauty of this moment.Champion of the world for the first time, the culmination and fulfilment of a dream that has not – if you think about it – really been in gestation for that long. An ascent this violent and spectacular simply deserved a triumph to match, and in thrashing Michael van Gerwen by seven sets to three, Littler may well have demolished not just one of the greatest players in history, but an entire era. Darts, a game conceived in the pub, may well have been perfected in a teenage bedroom
Thunderous 144mph aces: Mpetshi Perricard leads ‘serve-bot’ revival
As Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard stepped to the baseline for the start of his contest against Frances Tiafoe in the sleepy suburbs of Brisbane on Thursday afternoon, his very first shot of the match drew dramatic, startled gasps from the full Pat Rafter Arena crowd. Although Mpetshi Perricard usually does not pay attention to serve speeds in the blazing heat of battle, the loud commotion after his thunderous ace led him to steal a glance at the speed clock. The screen read: 232kph (144mph).By the end of the opening game, the Frenchman had served four aces off his first five serves, finishing with a cool 227kph (141mph) second serve ace. He would finish an excellent straight-sets win over Tiafoe with 20 aces
Copperhead to roll back years and land battle of the veterans at Sandown
The brief lull in the National Hunt season between the busy Christmas schedule and the start of the trials for the big spring festivals gives some of the sport’s older hands a chance to chase a valuable prize in the Unibet Veterans’ Handicap Chase Series Final at Sandown, and while this year’s renewal has drawn a smaller field than usual, the nine runners bring plenty of high-class form to the fray.Eldorado Allen and Copperhead, who run for Joe Tizzard’s in-form stable, both have Grade Two wins over fences to their name, while Chambard was a 40-1 winner of the Kim Muir Handicap Chase at the Cheltenham festival in 2022 and Sam Brown took the valuable three-mile handicap on Grand National day at Aintree the same year.Smarty Wild and Remastered – the runner-up in the Coral Gold Cup at Newbury in 2022 – are other familiar names that many punters will remember with affection, but when it comes to picking the likeliest winner, the strong challenge from the Tizzard yard is impossible to ignore.Copperhead and Eldorado Allen ran solid prep races for this tilt at a £50,000 prize when second and third respectively over two and a half miles at Cheltenham last month, and both should improve for the return to three miles on Saturday.Copperhead (3
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