§ CAPTAIN ARTHUR MURRAY (Kincardineshire)I beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury whether he is aware that of the thirty-two Scottish Peers who are not hereditary Peers of Parliament sixteen only are Representative Peers, the remaining sixteen being without the franchise and debarred from entering either House; and whether, having regard to the fact that a Liberal Scottish Peer has little chance, owing to his political opinions, of being elected as a Representative Peer, he will consider the propriety, when introducing a Reform Bill, of so amending the Act of Union as to enable non-representative Scottish Peers to become eligible for election to the House of Commons.
§ MR. SWIFT MACNEILLIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that in addition to the thirty-two Scottish Peers mentioned in the Question, there are fifty others who are Peers of the United Kingdom, and accordingly take part, although they are Peers of the United Kingdom, in the Scottish elections; and in the proposed reform Bill, will he do his best to deal with these noble fagot voters?
§ THE PRIME MINISTER AND FIRST LORD OF THE TREASURY (Mr. ASQUITH, Fifeshire, E.)My hon. and 482 gallant friend's inquiry opens up a very wide field. I will consider the point raised.
§ MR. JAMES HOPE (Sheffield, Central)Could not the right hon. Gentleman see his way to getting over the difficulty by adopting in toto the suggestions of the House of Lords' Reform Committee?
§ MR. WATT (Glasgow, College)Will the right hon. Gentleman introduce legislation, at an early date, to put Scotsmen on the same level as Irishmen?
§ [No Answer was returned.]