Irvine cites 'Star Wars' in attack on Lords reform

The Lord Chancellor opened up a Cabinet war over reform of the Lords yesterday when he attacked efforts by Robin Cook, Leader of the House, to secure agreement on a compromise reform as an unstable "fudge".

Lord Irvine of Lairg launched a bitter attack on the concept of a partly elected House of Lords, branding it a "parliamentary disaster" that would inevitably lead to the breakdown of the traditional balance of power between MPs and peers.

In a direct rebuff to Mr Cook's repeated attempts to find a "centre of gravity" on the way forward for the Lords, Lord Irvine told peers: "What is needed is not a fudged centre of gravity around a halfway house, around a hybrid house, an unstable evanescent compromise but a long-lasting settlement for the future of this house, which will preserve, not prejudice, the enduring stability of our long-lived Parliament."

He told peers that introducing elected members to the Lords would mean the traditional dominance of the Commons would be "gone for ever".

He likened himself to a character in Star Wars in his quest to avoid a mixed House of Lords, telling peers: "They see me rather as Obi-Wan Kenobi and feel the 'force' of my mission in this debate to save us from the parliamentary disaster of hybridity."

The Lord Chancellor's comments came amid speculation that Tony Blair is privately backing the proposal of a fully elected second chamber.