Nor should William Hague’s complaints be taken seriously; he had the chance to use Tory power in the Lords to push for more democracy. Invariably, those with mixed systems have a larger elected than appointed element. As a result, there is a much more respectable option of 195 members to be directly elected at the time of the European Elections, which means they will not necessarily reflect the Commons – and therefore the Government – majority. But even this compares unfavourably, said Meg Russell, an adviser to the Commission and the author of the standard work on overseas second chambers, with other countries. And its cheerleader on the Commission, Gerald Kaufman, fought a fierce rearguard action to keep the elected element as small as possible. Indeed, the inclusion of the minimalist 65-strong option was apparently exacted by Mr Kaufman as the price of ensuring unanimity on the Commission.The heroes, if there were any, of this heavily circumscribed exercise were a Conservative and a Liberal Democrat. Lord Hurd of Westwell, with the support of Dawn Oliver, the Professor of Constitutional Law at University College London, took on these arguments and pressed, first to have an elected element at all, and then to make it considerably larger and much more cleanly elected than the Government would almost certainly like.

True, it is almost wholly lacking in the persuasive eloquence which Lord Jenkins applied last year to his inquiry into electoral reform, a task which for the same reasons was as daunting. But the central recommendations of the report he has produced is the maximum – and and probably more than the maximum – he could expect the Government to enact.Nothing could better illustrate this than the fact that the Labour Party’s evidence to the Royal Commission did not even mention a democratic element. For Lord Wakeham, a wily fixer and by all accounts a skilful chairman, knew when he set out that, if he was to produce a report that did not merely moulder on the shelves, the Royal Commission would have to tread with dismal caution. In recognising the Wakeham report on House of Lords reform as deeply disappointing – which it is – it’s important to understand why.

Yes, it seems amazing that in the 21st Century a Royal Commission could furnish the government of the day with the option of creating a second chamber of 550 people in which the only “democratic” element is 65 party hacks who would get their seats automatically by virtue of the percentage share of votes in the general election This is neither direct nor indirect election It’s virtual election But it is too easy to blame Lord Wakeham alone. For this report is much more a function of the political background against which it was asked to devise a new system.
Which, put less politely, means the deep lack of enthusiasm in Tony Blair’s Government for a second chamber which could act as a vigorous, if limited, check and balance against the ever-strengthening power of the executive. Yes, it seems amazing that in the 21st Century a Royal Commission could furnish the government of the day with the option of creating a second chamber of 550 people in which the only “democratic” element is 65 party hacks who would get their seats automatically by virtue of the percentage share of votes in the general election This is neither direct nor indirect election It’s virtual election But it is too easy to blame Lord Wakeham alone. For this report is much more a function of the political background against which it was asked to devise a new system. In recognising the Wakeham report on House of Lords reform as deeply disappointing – which it is – it’s important to understand why. For too long the Government has been all spin and no substance on the TransTec fiasco and it is now time for Stephen Byers to get a grip.”. The businessman and MP was forced to resign his ministerial post in December 1998 after the disclosure of his £373,000 home loan to Peter Mandelson.TransTec began in the early 1980s as a small concern developing ideas generated by universities, but expanded rapidly a decade later when it was involved in a “reverse take-over” with Robert Maxwell’s engineering companies.Mr Robinson was nonexecutive chairman of the group until May 1997, when he was made a minister, and remains its largest shareholder.The TransTec plant at Campsie in Northern Ireland, which made parts for the Ford Explorer, was built with a government grant of £7m plus £19m from the company.Angela Browning, shadow Trade and Industry Secretary, said a deadline should be set for the inspectors’ report “There must be no kicking this into the long grass.

“There are clearly a number of serious issues regarding the collapse of TransTec which the public interest requires to be investigated by independent inspectors,” Mr Byers said. The report will be made public.The news dealt a further blow to Mr Robinson, who has confirmed he will stand again for his Coventry North West seat at the next election. An official inquiry was ordered last night into the collapse of TransTec, the engineering firm founded by Geoffrey Robinson, the former paymaster general. An official inquiry was ordered last night into the collapse of TransTec, the engineering firm founded by Geoffrey Robinson, the former paymaster general.
Stephen Byers, Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, appointed independent inspectors to investigate the firm’s accounts, which omitted to mention an £11m claim against the company.TransTec suspended its share trading on Christmas Eve after banks withdrew a £70m mortgage when the accounting irregularity emerged.Mr Byers said the inspectors would concentrate on whether shareholders and the public were made aware of the claim by Ford, which said parts made by TransTec were delivered late. Although more money has been recovered through anti-fraud programmes, they fell short of new, higher targets.David Davis, the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, called for action to address what he described as an enormous waste of public money from fraud and error in the Department of Social Security’s benefit payments.. “It’s depressing that legitimate claims may not be being made. This is a Government that says it is committed to reducing poverty and which talks about the need to persuade pensioners to claim income support, but here are figures that show disabled elderly people are not claiming the benefit to which they are entitled.”Sir John said the combined level of fraud on income support and the jobseeker’s allowance could be as high as £1.5bn per year Child benefit fraud raised the level above £1.7bn.

The department spent £754m less than its budget on disability benefits last year and almost £500m less on income support, excluding that given to pensioners.Experts said the underspend could be partly due to publicity about exercises such as the benefits integrity project putting off some claimants.Lorna Reith, chief executive of the Disability Alliance, said a climate of suspicion might have made some people reluctant to claim. The Government underspent its benefits budget by more than £3.5bn in its first two years. But errors in income support payments have become worse, rising by £82m to £638m last year, according to a report yesterday by the Government’s spending watchdog.
The figures raised fears that crackdowns on fraud and disputes over disability benefits may have deterred genuine claimants. Benefits spending had been expected to rise by £1.5bn to £26.3bn in the first year after Labour came to power, but actually fell by £300m.