IR As a former MP and now a peer, how would you compare the two chambers?
LD The Lords is more ‘civilised’, less partisan and less confrontational. This has its good and its bad points. You do not get up to speak in the Lords — some people do, but it is not well received and is against the culture of the place — to make purely party political points, or to provide material for a press release. You only get up if you think you have something significant to say and you have done your homework on the subject. As a result, speeches and debates are much more instructive. I learn something new much more frequently than I did in the Commons, and, thanks to the cross-benchers, on a wider range of subjects.
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