Historic legislation to reform the House of Lords is included in today's Queen's Speech setting out the Government's agenda for the year ahead, despite warnings from MPs that it could tear the coalition apart.
The controversial measures could result in an 80% elected Upper House of Parliament, with numbers of peers "substantially" cut from their current 800.
But the proposal faces stiff resistance not only from sitting peers but also large numbers of Conservative backbenchers, with some experts predicting that pitched battles between opponents and supporters of reform could swallow up weeks of parliamentary time.
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