British Conservatives may backtrack on their pledge to support Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg's plans for creating an elected House of Lords.Following Lib Dems slump in local council elections across Perfidious Albion and their failure to gain public approval to their key alternative vote (AV) reforms, top Conservative sources revealed Prime Minister
David Cameron... has stated that he is
certainly a big Thatcher fan, but I don't know whether that makes me a Thatcherite,which means he's not. Since he is
not deeply ideologicalhe lacks core principles and is easily led. He has been described as
certainly not a Pitt, Elder or Younger,but he does wear a nice suit so maybe he's Beau Brummel ...
will not back Clegg's bid to reform the House of Lords despite promising otherwise in the coalition agreement.
The sources said Cameron has "no intention" of rallying Tories' support for Lords reform, The Independent reported.
Clegg's favored changes in the House of Lords could cushion the impact of the AV defeat for Liberal Democrats.
Lib Dems deputy leader Simon Hughes described the Lords reform as a "done deal" on Friday saying, "That was part of the coalition agreement."
But Tories said they are just obliged to "establish a committee" on the reform based on the coalition agreement rather than using government powers to give it a push.
Tory sources said the draft House of Lords Reform Bill, which Clegg is expected to introduce within weeks, will not be given the force of a "Parliament Act" by the prime minister and he will only express his support for a "consensus on reform."
One of the sources said Conservatives are indeed "hoping that Clegg's draft bill is so good that it doesn't need to become an act" while others said Cameron will in "no circumstance" use that power to shore up the reforms.
The government can present the reforms as an act that overrides any decision by the Lords from Labour, Conservative and independent ranks that are most likely to vote down any proposal on an elected House of Lords.
Liberal Democrats also admit that achieving what they seek "may simply not be possible."
"Liberals have been trying to reform the House of Lords since the beginning of the last century and it has huge symbolic importance to our party. But there are very difficult issues still to resolve and it may simply not be possible," a source said.
Clegg is reportedly seeking to push for an upper chamber with 300 members that are 80 percent elected and 20 percent appointed with the former allowed a single 15-year term.
The plans should be examined by a committee of both Houses of parliament before being presented as a bill at the chambers for approval.