One of the most important constitutional debates for a long time is going on in the UK at the moment, but is either overshadowed by the upcoming bun fight in Iraq or because it’s to do with politics people just don’t care. The House of Lords or the Second Chamber is up for a bit of reformation and it looks like Mr Blair is about to u-turn on a promise to make it rather more democratic than it is at the moment. The reason for the discussion is an obvious one, only in countries that don’t bother with inconvenient things like elections would an arm of the legislature consist of hundreds of unelected individuals. What is seems Mr Blair wants to do is maintain the status quo and keep the second house a wholly appointed body, whilst others including those in his own party want at least a proportion of seats elected. Maybe our leader needs to be reminded what the word democracy means, because you have to be naive beyond belief to imagine that the appointment of unelected members wouldn’t be tainted by political meddling.