EVICTING the last remaining hereditary peers from the House of Lords is “essential,” a Labour minister insisted today.

Cabinet Office Minister Ellie Reeves made the remarks as she moved the third reading of the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill, which will “remove the right of people to sit and make laws in our legislature by virtue of an accident of birth.”

Ms Reeves told Parliament: “In the 21st century it cannot be right for there to be places in our legislature reserved for those born into certain families.”