HYNDBURN MP Greg Pope and his Chorley Labour colleague Lindsay Hoyle backed an amendment to this week's debate on reforming the House of Lords to call for the total abolition of Westminster's second chamber.

The official sponsor of the move for a single chamber -- or in Westminster speak "unicameral" parliament -- was Merseyside's George Howarth, a junior minister under Blackburn MP Jack Straw when he was Home Secretary.

When he and colleagues went to see the officials responsible for how his amendment should appear on the Order Paper -- the parliamentary agenda -- Mr Howarth was surprised that they recommended he table his abolition amendment to all seven of the possible proposals, ranging from an all-elected to an all-appointed upper house with five alternatives for a mix of the two.

Mr Howarth said: "But I don't want to clutter up the Order Paper." The veteran Commons official replied: "Here I am dealing with a bunch of revolutionaries who wants to sweep away thousand years of parliamentary tradition and all you is bothered about is cluttering up the Order Paper."

RIBBLE Valley Tory Nigel Evans has been hob-nobbing again. He recently I reported him chatting with badly-burned and scarred met with Falklands War veteran Simon Weston and BBC newsreading star Huw Edwards. This time he has been chatting to lead singer of The Who, Roger Daltry, at a meeting of the Teenage Cancer Trust of which the ageing rock star is patron.

TALKING of radicals and revolutionaries, it's amazing how Westminster tames even the most left-wing.

Quasi-Republican Gordon Prentice remains deeply sceptical about the possible new Gulf War but next week he'll meeting old soldiers and heroes at the House of Commons, at a Tuesday's Parliamentary Open Day for the Royal British Legion. Mr Prentice said: "This is an opportunity to meet senior volunteers and staff to discuss with them aspects of their work. The legion does invaluable work in helping ex-service people and their families and I welcome this opportunity to meet and talk to the people on the front line.'' Hardly firebrand stuff!