Britain’s House of Lords needs to stop directing law and overruling the UK gov't

Sputnik news agency and radio 18:02 GMT 24.11.2020

Representatives in Britain’s House of Lords have inflicted another defeat on the government over the controversial Internal Market Bill.

Peers in the UK's upper chamber voted in favour of moves that would ensure the devolved administrations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are involved in the future development of the UK internal market after Brexit. With more on this story, James Dalton, the Party Secretary of the 5 Star Direct Democracy Party, has offered his take on the development.

Sputnik: Was the House Lords right to take powers away from Westminster allowing Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland more say over the Internal Market Bill?

James Dalton: The straight answer to that is no. It's not right for the House of Lords to be interfering with legislation in that manner, and what we are seeing in real time now is the long-term effects of the destruction of our institutions. The constitutional setup in this country is clear, the House of Lords is a reviewing/a revising chamber. It's not there to make law, to direct law, it is there to ensure that any law put forward through the House of Commons, who are the people's representatives - they're who we vote for.

The House of Lords should merely be establishing whether the proposed legislation is constitutional. Now, for them to attempt to change our constitution by requiring the government to seek consent from devolved authorities is just farcical. The consent comes from the people who are governed. We're now what, four and a half years since we voted [and] gave the instruction to the government to get out? The government promised we will implement what you decide. Anybody who still believes words that come out of Boris Johnson's mouth, Matt Hancock's mouth, the Government's mouth... really, they need to take a check, because they're going to be conned all their life, if they still believe the con of the Conservative Party.

Sputnik: Does the House of Lords have too much power or is it instead a necessary feature of British democracy?

James Dalton: We don't have democracy, we don't have any mechanism whereby the will of the people is measured and implemented, and when it is measured it isn't implemented. We don't have democracy; this is the point. Now there are those of the view that the institutions are broken therefore get rid of the institutions, I don't actually share that view. It's not that the House of Lords is an anathema - it has a role to play.

The role to play is to protect the British people, protect their rights to ensure that what is being proposed by the House of Commons is constitutional - it stands in line with the rights of the British people. In the House of Lords, we need a complete clear out. Whatever the criticisms that body should be doing a job for the British people protecting our rights.

Sputnik: We've recently seen the US's Joe Biden support the EU's position on the internal market bill, is this something that Britain should be concerned about?

James Dalton: The situation in the United States of America is absolutely critical to the future path of this country, and what we're seeing at the moment is European powers - they've been treading water for some time. The United States, obviously what will come to be will come to be, but the result of the United States election is not yet determined.

We will know by the 14th of December, whether he [Joe Biden] will be [president] on the January the 21st? History will show and we'll know more on the 14th of December, but the world's media were very quick to almost define history on the 4th November. If Biden is inaugurated on the 21st of January, then people in Britain need to start preparing for a rather different future than they may have perceived 20, 30 years ago. As I say, the future is not yet determined. 14th of December, let's have a chat after that when we know how the electoral college votes.