Former Bradford policeman and hereditary peer Lord Calverley today said the Government faced an uphill struggle in its bid to end the voting rights of hereditary peers.

Lord Calverley - once Detective Constable Rodney Muff, 52 - made his comments after the Queen announced the Government's proposals in her speech yesterday.

Lord Calverley, who still lives in Wibsey, inherited his title in 1971 when his father, George Orford Muff died - but he continued working as a young PC in the city.

He only took up his seat in the House of Lords when he retired from the force last year.

"Even though I inherited the title in 1971 I knew that I was bringing a young family up. I had got a mortgage and just had to carry on as normal.

"We weren't born with a silver spoon in our mouths and it was first things first."

If the Government gets its way he would join Yorkshire's 19 other hereditary peers and be stripped of his powers.

Lord Calverley said: "It's like cutting a tree down.

"It takes many years to grow but only a few minutes to take it down with a chainsaw. But once it's gone it's gone for ever. I think the country would rue the day if it happened.

"I've a feeling the Government is trying to get the proposals through for the Millennium, although no-one knows how long it will take yet.

"There's a long way to go yet and it's got to be debated. The ball's started to roll but it's got to go through the due process of parliament.

"There's going to be fireworks but that's part of the rich tradition of the place.

"In my heart of hearts I think the hereditary peerage will be abolished though."

One reason mooted as to why the Government wants to abolish the hereditary peerage system is to reduce the vast Conservative majority in the House of Lords and ease the passage of legislation sent through from the House of parliament.

Lord Calverley said one way to get around this would be to make every peer independent and not subject to a party whip.

He said: "As a second chamber it works perfectly well. The whole idea of the House of Lords is to fine-tune the legislation the House of Commons put forward. I think it endeavours to iron out any faults in the legislation before it becomes law."

Lord Calverley fact file

l PC Charles Rodney Muff, then aged 25, became the Third Baron Calverley of Bradford when his father, the then second Lord Calverley, George Raymond Orford Muff, died in 1971.

l He retired from Bradford Police in 1997 after 33 years in the force and tries to go down to the House of Lords every week.

l His father, an insurance executive, inherited his title in 1955 after the death of his father, also called George, who was born in Bradford and received the baronetcy in 1945 after being Labour MP for Hull East for 14 years.

l George Raymond Muff planned to take early retirement from his job to take up his duties in the House of Lords but died before he could do so.

l Lord Calverley's wife, Barbara, a nurse, became Lady Calverley when the couple married in 1972. They live in a unassuming house in Wibsey.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.