The campaigner wanted House of Lords reform so a fitting tribute would be for the Lib Dems to refuse to fill his dwelling“Piss and wind” was the late Lord Avebury’s opinion of the standard of debate around the House of Lords. Much of the reverence for the chamber is based on romanticised idealisation,he complained. The crusading hereditary peer – a champion of human rights throughout his 53 years in parliament – died this February, aged 87, and prompting a special “byelection” to replace him. As his youngest son and an expert in politics respectively,we know he didn’t contemplate much of the Lords, often saying that the only three subjects guaranteed to find a full chamber were: “Lords reform, or fox hunting and buggery”.
Yet despite arguing for its abolition,Avebury used the chamber as a platform to advocate many pioneering causes, including outlawing the offence of blasphemous libel and caste discrimination, and legalising gay marriage,allowing children of unmarried British citizens to claim citizenship, exposing the Sandline arms affair, and repealing the Sus laws,and ending detention of children in asylum centres. He took up the cases of thousands of refugees and prisoners, and supported liberation struggles worldwide. Even the greatest champions of liberalism would own a hard time filling his shoes – and the assortment of hoteliers and speedy-food entrepreneurs standing to succeed him don’t seem to quite measure up.
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Source: theguardian.com