Confusion over Lords reforms

Tony Blair appeared undecided today over plans to strip the House of Lords of its key remaining powers.

Ministers were in confusion after opposition parties threatened to fight any moves to cut the Upper House down to size by abolishing the right of peers to delay legislation for a year.

The idea was floated last month by Commons leader Peter Hain in a TV interview following a series of defeats for the Government in the Lords.

It appeared to gain ground after reports that Mr Blair was drawing up a sweeping new Parliament Act designed to prevent peers from holding back laws for more than three or six months. But the latest claims provoked a denial from Downing Street.

The confusion deepened when the Department of Constitutional Affairs confirmed the powers and procedures of the Lords were all being thrown into the melting pot in a review.

The mixed messages were seen as evidence the Government is nervous of a manifesto commitment to abolish the lastremaining major historic rights enjoyed by the Upper House.