POLITICS IN BRITAIN.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 14648, 6 April 1911, Page 5

POLITICS IN BRITAIN.

THE DEBATE ON THE VETO. PARTY SYSTEM ATTACKED. SECRET VOTING .^PROPOSED. By Telegraph.—Press Association.— Copyright. (Received April 6. V 12.30 a.m.) London, April 5. The debate on the Parliament (Veto) Bill in the House of Commons to-day was' uneventful, Liberal members being practically silent. • An amendment by Colonel A. Griffith-Boscawen (Unionist member for Dudley) that the vote on, the third reading of money Bills,should be taken by ballot was rejected by 363 to 84. Lord Hugh Cecil (Unionist member for Oxford University) incidentally attacked the party system, and characterised the House of Commons as a corrupt assembly. Intimidation by caucus was such that they required the' re-introduction of th© ballot. «• Mr. Balfour made a spirited reply to Lord Hugh Cecil, which Liberals loudly cheered. He said he Hid. not believe that the House of Commons had .undergone deterioration within living ~ memory. The evils of % the party system would be surpassed the evils arising if it were abolished. THE REFORM SCHEMES. SETTLEMENT BY rCONSENT. (Received April 6, 1.2 a.m.) London, April 5. Lord Balfour of Burleigh, in a speech at Edinburgh last night, admitted that the House of Lords was not sufficiently representative, but said that if the Government pressed for a numerical advantage in the Upper Chamber it. would not get , a durable settlement. Settlement by consent, he said, was what was wanted, not a defeat of one party.' .