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Hereditary peers embarrass democracy
by Willie Sullivan
House of Lords

FOR a while, it looked as if we’d see the end of the hereditary principle in our politics.

Most of them went in “stage one” of Tony Blair’s reforms in the late ’90s, but here we find ourselves, several governments later, with 92 of them still hanging on to their inherited places at the heart of our democracy.

Westminster is a place where the elite seek to protect their position as chief decision-makers — none more so than these 91 men and sole woman.

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