was first enunciated 40 years ago, yet tonight we are still faced with a Chamber which has, as the basis of its constitution, the hereditary principle. While the hereditary principle continues, there is no validity, no logic, in denying to a body of peers -- to a body of women peers, it is true -- the right to take their seats in the House of Lords. It is to this point that I would like to direct the attention of the Government. I welcome this Bill; I welcome the cut in the use of the suspensory veto because I am sure that if the Government brought in a Bill or attempted in any way the reform of the House of Lords in this direction -- as they might very well do -- the House of Lords, judged by its past actions would certainly do everything they could to prevent it. Many other Bills have been mentioned in this Debate as reasons why we should cut down the time of the suspensory veto but it is the possibility of this Bill being introduced and of its fate, which interests me as a woman. I have used the term "women peers" advisedly, in the same way as one would use the term "women jurors," or as one would refer to a lord mayor or a mayor as "lord mayor" or "mayor" whether woman or man. I think that the feminine derivative should be saved for use in reference to the wives of