U.K. Government Defeated Again, etc. (FWD)

[DEMOREP1 at aol.com]

U.K. Government Defeated Again in Parliament on EU Election Law

London, Nov. 12 (Bloomberg) -- The U.K. government has been defeated again in
parliament on its bill to reform the voting system for elections to the
European Parliament in June.   

Members of the House of Lords, the upper chamber, defeated the government's
proposals for a proportional representation system for the elections by 237
votes to 194. Prime Minister Tony Blair's official spokesman said before the
vote the government would decide what to do if the administration lost the
vote.   

It's the third time the House of Lords has defeated the government on the
issue in the past few weeks. Under British law the government can invoke
legislation to overrule the upper chamber, but that can't come into operation
for a year, too late to be in time for the June elections.   

Government spokesmen say they're being defeated on the measure by hereditary
members of the House of Lords; the government is committed to abolishing those
seats in the next session of parliament, starting November 24.  

18:48:36 11/12/1998