THE THIRD WAY MAY NEED A THIRD PARTY:

Blow for Blair over reform of the Lords (Jean Eaglesham and Krishna Guha, February 4 2003, Financial Times)

Tony Blair suffered his biggest ever parliamentary rebuff yesterday, as half of Labour's MPs rejected the prime minister's call for the House of Lords to remain entirely appointed rather than elected.

The modernisers won support from 25 ministers, including five cabinet members, but their victory was a Pyrrhic one. In a series of eight votes, MPs failed to agree on any alternative to an appointed Lords, leaving the reform agenda in chaos.

The failure to back change - while rejecting the status quo - gives Mr Blair strong grounds for putting action on the issue on indefinite hold. Even modernisers conceded there would almost certainly be no substantial reform in this Parliament.

If you're going down, there's no finer cause to fall with than the fight against modernization and reform. Posted by Orrin Judd at February 5, 2003 10:19 AM