Alternatively, the Commons can use its powers to present a bill originating in the House of Commons for Royal Assent after one year and in a new session, even if the Lords' objections are maintained.
Chris Bryant, who's been batting for Labour in the media on Lords Reform (even though his shadow ministerial job is immigration), expects the bill to reach a third reading in the end, probably with the addition of a referendum, and the subtraction of the bishops.
Even the current House of Lords is hardly hamstringing the goverment.
With that problem dealt with, proponents say that the main objections to having a unicameral Scottish parliament seem to be the sheer novelty of it and the argument that it will make the present House of Lords look even more obsolete than it does already.
Even big shifts in power within the Lords, such as the one that made Labour the largest party there in 2005, go largely unremarked on.
This week, Labour ministers suggested that it was illegitimate for the Lords to overturn the Commons, even though the defeats were limited to minor aspects of the government's bill.
Mob justice is unattractive even when voiced in the subdued tones of a House of Lords debate.
In India, British rule pushed aside the feudal lords and made more room for Indian business, but of course favored British business even more.
The decision to allow peers to return even if they have not repaid money owed comes despite a warning it risks bringing the Lords "into further disrepute".
It would be far better if this commission could be genuinely independent, perhaps even with commissioners elected in some way, or if it were a commission of the House of Lords itself.
Add up all the coded messages and it is pretty clear that Mr Blair is even more hostile than he was last January, when the government published a white paper on the Lords, towards direct election to the reformed upper house.
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