The Guardian's leader this morning observes that finally after 11 years, the government might be getting serious on constitutional reform.

An important debate is happening in the House of Lords this week.  An amendment has been tabled to end the discriminatory nature of abortion legislation.  The law currently permits an abortion to be conducted right up to birth, when any disability has been detected, whereas it is a criminal offence to abort an able-bodied fetus after 24 weeks.  Clearly, a case of one law for the able-bodied another for the disabled.  I hope our peers support this important amendment.

Breaking news on London Tonight this evening: The Lords has amended the GLA bill to limit the Mayor of London to two terms.

Already five of the six deputy leadership candidates have signed up in support of the Campaign for a Democratic Upper House.

Only the Labour party has a longstanding commitment to reform the Lords, it is something that has been part of the Labour movements struggle for a better and more equal society since the birth of the Parliamentary Labour Party. In the 1910 election, nearly 100 years ago – the Labour party increased its MP’s from 29 to 40 after the House of Lords blocked the ‘peoples budget’. The Lords was hereditary, unaccountable, overwhelmingly biased towards a single party regardless of public opinion and militant in defence of the interests of one class above all others. Arguably only one of these criticisms has been fully overcome in the last century. Having pushed through some reforms in the last 10 years we must move to entrench a truly democratic legacy – Labour must live up to our constitutional commitment to putting ‘power in the hands of the many not the few’. Only the Labour party can fully see through these reforms, they will never happen under a Conservative regime – we must deliver then on our destiny, and drive through these reforms completing a journey started nearly one hundred years ago.

Brown should stake out the progressive ground on Lords reform

There's not much to cheer about in Jack Straw's White Paper on Lords reform.  But there is a promise to consult on a new name for the upper chamber.  I'm sure we can offer some suggestions!

For those of you who don't know, Republic is a mighty fine campaign organisation pushing for a democratically elected Head of State - and it needs your support.

10 August marks the 95th anniversary of the 1911 Parliament Act, the preamble of which declares an intention to replace the House of Lords with a Second Chamber "constituted on a popular basis," and so the Elect the Lords Campaign have decided to mark this day once again in an attempt to speed up the process!