THE Scottish Greens have called for serving members of the House of Lords to be banned from election to Holyrood.

Serving peers are already disqualified from voting in elections and from sitting in the House of Commons, but not from being elected to the Scottish Parliament.

Now, in a stage-two amendment to the Scottish Elections (Representation and Reform) Bill, presently making its way through Holyrood, Green MSP Ross Greer has called for the ban to be extended to Holyrood.

Branding the upper chamber an “anti-democratic and archaic institution,” Mr Greer commented: “It should be a source of embarrassment to the UK that more than half of Westminster’s lawmakers are completely unelected and unaccountable, including some who quite clearly paid for their peerages with dodgy donations to one party or another.

“Every MSP is democratically elected, but there is a clear conflict between this and sitting in the unelected Lords.

“If a peer wants to serve in Holyrood, they should resign their membership of the Lords first.

“I hope that MSPs across all parties will put those principles first by supporting my amendment.”

A vote is expected before November 15.