They've only bloody done it!

So it seem the Commons has, with a whacking great majority, voted in favour a 100% wholly elected second chamber. I have to admit when I saw this on the TV I said "yes!". Whilst I'm not sure whether I still agree with all my personal preferences last July, I still think that having a wholly elected chamber is the right thing to do, although how long it will take for it come to fruition now I have no idea. It's safe to assume the Lords will delay it.

One thing I did say back in July though was that we shouldn't be afraid of genuine bi-cameralism in this country, and hopefully this represents that realisation. The questions that remain of course are how the system would work and ensure that power between the two houses is balanced correctly.

Interesting times.

Update: For those that don't want to read my archive this is what I said should happen (I think now I would probably alter the salary point and perhaps some/or all of the others) :

1. The chamber must represent the proportional party shares of the national vote for the Commons.
2. The quasi-sincecures for Lords members should be ended by introducing term limits.
3. The positions should be paid at the national average salary rate.
4. The Parliament Act should be amended to account for the chamber's new legitimacy.

The last of the above refers to the situation whereby - in it's current state - the Parliament Act could be used to overrule a democratically representative House of Lords whilst not holding a share of the national vote over 50%. The Parliament Act should therefore be amended so that it cannot be invoked where the party in Government in the Commons does not command an overall majority in the Lords, thus safeguarding against the "elective dictatorship".