Will there be moves in the House of Lords to try and block Brexit, as some press reports have suggested? Alistair Lexden commented on the proper role of the unelected Upper House in a letter published in the London Evening Standard on November 8.
There are some determined supporters of Brexit in the House of Lords who will not tolerate attempts to stall the process of leaving the EU.
The Conservative Party manifesto at the general election last year pledged that our party would accept the result of the referendum. If the Government introduces legislation before invoking Article 50, we must of course scrutinise it carefully in exactly the same way that we examine all measures that come to us. That is our constitutional duty.
It would be entirely wrong, however, for the Lords to try and delay, or make fundamental changes to, legislation of overwhelming importance that commands the support of the elected chamber—which it will by the time it reaches us. The House of Lords must work constructively to make a success of Brexit; that is what the British people will expect of us.
Alistair Lexden
House of Lords