A selection of Lord Lexden's letters this year to The Daily Telegraph, The Times, The New Statesman, The Spectator and others. You can read letters from previous years in the menu to the left.
19/02/25 - Should the House of Lords be scrapped?
The Daily Telegraph
SIR - Nigel Farage expresses a widespread view that the House of Lords is too large (Comment, February 13). It is, however, smaller by some 500 members than it was 30 years ago before Tony Blair threw out most of the hereditaries, soon to be followed by the 92 who still remain, despite the fine service that so many have given to the nation.
Whatever changes may be made (such as the removal of everyone over the age of 80, proposed in Labour’s manifesto), the upper house must remain an institution in which legislation is scrutinised in detail, which frequently does not happen in the Commons, and in which grave issues are considerd free from party rancour. Last week, as a Lords deputy speaker, I presided over a debate to mark Holocaust Memorial Day. It combined intellectual depth with moving eloquence.
The Lords can be Improved, but it should not be destoyed.
Lord Lexden
London SW1
17/02/25 - Chamberlain and Churchill in partnership
The Times
Sir, The letter written by Neville Chamberlain shortly after his resignation as prime minister in May 1940 (“Chamberlain felt better out of No 10”, news, Feb 13) displays a lack of recrimination and disappointment that is rare in politics. Despite the onset of the cancer that was to kill him six months later, he took on a huge burden of work, freeing Churchill to run the war. His private secretary noted “his incredible capacity for work and his apparent immunity from fatigue continue.” Churchill was distraught when he died. “What shall I do without poor Neville?” he said. “I was relying on him to look after the home front for me.”
If Chamberlain had remained in harness with Churchill throughout the Second World War, posterity would today give him the honour that he deserves.
Lord Lexden
Conservative Party historian and author, Neville Chamberlain: Redressing the Balance