SIR - In a recent television programme my MP, Philip Davies, asserted that it was “dangerous” for the unelected House of Lords to tack on amendments to the government's bill to deport “illegal” asylum seekers to Rwanda.
After all, the Conservatives had won an 80 seat majority in the 2019 general election.
In 1976 the Conservative peer Lord Hailsham warned that Britain was in danger of sinking into an 'elective dictatorship' because of the vulnerability of its constitutional arrangements.
In his support of the Rwanda Bill Philip Davies is asserting the primacy of the Commons and that its power should be unfettered. Does this not constitute “Elective dictatorship”? Three further points need to be made.
First, that the 80 seat majority in 2019 was gained on a 43.5per cent share of the vote. The majority of the electorate voted for parties other than the Conservatives.
Secondly, in the Lords last week dozens of Conservative peers (including Ken Clarke) defied the Tory whip and voted in support of the Lords' amendments. In so doing they joined the Archbishop of Canterbury and former high court judges who are appalled at the iniquity of the Rwanda scheme.
Finally, Philip Davies has yet again put himself on the wrong side of history.
John Cole, Oakroyd Terrace, Baildon
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