Pam Giddy says voters’ ignorance could spoil necessary reform of the Lords

They are reforming the Lords. THEY ARE REFORMING THE LORDS! I say it twice just in case you haven't yet heard. And why should you? This must be one of the most un-public of public consultations. The end of the peer show is coming soon to a town near you but ssshh, don't tell anyone - they might have something to say on the matter.

Lets recap. The Labour Party has been committed to reforming the Lords for a quarter of a century. Last year the Government set up a Royal Commission of 12 people to spend a year working out what should replace our archaic hereditary system. So far so good.

The Royal Commission - headed by Lord Wakeham - earlier this year published a paper committing itself to public consultation. It decided on a series of regional meetings where we, the public, could go to meet the Commission and have our views heard.

A few weeks ago it held the first of these public hearings. It was jam-packed but it was a public meeting only in the sense that Formula 1 is a participatory sport - you could watch but not take part.

Witnesses who had already submitted papers were called and then questioned. We - the public - watched from our seats, oohing and aahing when someone said something funny or ironic, politely applauding each witness as they finished. It was pure theatre.

And there lay the problem. We weren't at a theatre. We weren't supposed to be an audience. We were supposed to be the reason why the commission was there - to hear from us. Question time taken after each of the three sessions was eaten up by people complaining that they weren't being given enough time to speak!

The show packed up and rolled on. It was In Peterborough at the end of May. The two sessions originally planned were cut to just one. Last Wednesday the commission was to be in Belfast. I had my plane ticket booked anticipating that this might be one of the more interesting meetings. Alas, the commission stood me up. The meeting was cancelled at the last minute because of lack of interest – or lack of publicity. Only 4 people had said they wanted to come.

I am now told not to pre book my train tickets to Newcastle, Manchester or Birmingham because a meeting can’t be guaranteed.

Labour led the debate in favour of reforming the Lords by stressing the illegitimacy of hereditary peers. Who were these people to sit in judgement on our lives and make laws saying what we could and could not do? The danger now is that these questions will continue to be asked even after the removal of the hereditary peers. If the new second chamber is not created with the active involvement of the public it will not have our support. So where's its legitimacy? In a recent poll (Charter 88/ICM May 1999) nearly 75% felt that there wasn't enough public consultation on Lords reform.

It would be too glib to simply blame the commission for the poor attendance. It's great that its intention is to seek opinion and test the public mood before sitting down to write up how we change the way we make our laws. But consultation isn't just about turning up and asking people what they think. You have to lay the groundwork. Where are the bill boards screaming out at you as you wait for your bus that you have the chance to say over how Britain is governed?

To truly encourage participation you have to explain how the present system works, what powers the second chamber has and how they use it. Give people, in clear language, the options that are being discussed. Encourage us to talk about it in our workplaces and schools. Show how it affects our lives. If my cabbie can proffer an opinion on who should run the BBC or Kosovo, I'm sure he also has something to say on who makes our laws.

We are being offered an opportunity to help shape the way Britain is governed. It will say something about the kind of people we are and the kind of country we want to live in. Let's not allow the small elites who have made these decisions for us for centuries do it again. If we do, we are in danger of replacing one set of alien and distant institutions with another – and nothing really will have changed.

• This article appeared in the Daily Express on 7 June 1999
• Pam Giddy is Director of Charter88.
• The Lords Commission is scheduled to meet in Newcastle on June 9, Manchester 22 June, Birmingham 24 June, Edinburgh 30 June, Cardiff 8 July and London 27^th July. You can call the commission 0171 210 0441 or via the website www.lords-reform.org.uk