Lord Stevenson says hairdressers shouldn’t be made people’s peers as they might not feel ‘comfortable’ in the House of Lords. Ros Coward took celebrity snipper Nicky Clarke along to test out the theory

Another New Labour attempt at populism has gone awry. Criticised for the predictably safe, middle-class list of people’s peers, Lord Stevenson compounded the crime by saying that they could not select people, like hairdressers, who would be uncomfortable in the Lords. Roy Hattersley, suitably appalled, responded in Monday’s Guardian. The people’s peers ought to be real people like hairdressers, he said, and gallantly offered to acclimatise a couple.

Full article: http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2001/may/04/lords.politicalnews