Lords: Blair rejects Muslim leaders

Tony Blair today turned down proposals to allow imams, rabbis and leaders of other faiths to sit alongside bishops in the House of Lords.

The move - rejecting proposals from the Wakeham commission on reform of the Lords - will please traditionalists and leaves the bishops with their historic supremacy unchallenged.

However, it looks certain to anger others at a time when the Government is keen to woo Muslim opinion, and when Mr Blair himself has been studying the Koran. Leaders of other religions had signalled in advance that they were ready and eager to take up the Wakeham proposal.

Under present rules, 26 Church of England bishops sit by right in the House of Lords. The number will be cut to 16. Offering seats to other faiths would have raised questions of what counts as a religion, how many followers would be needed to qualify, and how to treat sects and sub-sects.

Some Catholics oppose the idea of cardinals in the Lords because canon law bars clerics from takingpolitical office. Progressive Jews do not accept the Chief Rabbi's leadership, and could have asked for their own seat. Atheist groups would have demanded representation.

Today's White Paper detailing the second-stage Lords reform proposals says: "The Government would have been delighted to find a way to extend formal representation to other faiths and denominations but concluded that it was impractical."

As a sop to other faiths, it says the commission in charge of appointing peers to the new-look chamber "will be required to take the representations of faiths and denominations into account".

The White Paper sets out the blueprint for a second chamber dominated by political appointees. Of 600 members, 120 will be elected by the public - only 20 per cent of the total.

A further 120 will be non- political figures appointed by an independent commission, while up to 332 will be chosen by the Prime Minister and Opposition party leaders. All hereditary peers will be banished.

Instead of being able to veto secondary legislation proposed by ministers, peers will only be able to delay it.

Elections to the Lords could be conducted under a closed party list system, in which parties put up a slate of candidates, but voters have no say over which individuals are elected.

The plans were immediately condemned by many Labour MPs who want an elected second chamber, while Tories accused Mr Blair of creating a chamber of "Tony's cronies".

? Local government minister Nick Raynsford today gave the strongest signal yet that general election voting will soon be carried out over the internet and by phone, to combat low turnout.