Labour’s leader in the Lords has denied behaving like a “dinosaur” over a bill to change the way MPs are elected, as peers faced another marathon debate.
Lord Hunt denied using delaying tactics, saying the bill had to be given “proper Parliamentary scrutiny.”
But Lords Leader Lord Strathclyde said Lord Hunt and “his dinosaur pals” were trying to prevent it from coming into force before the next election.
The third of the three days of debate is due to get under way at 1530 GMT.
It comes amid signs of a possible deal between the two sides.
The BBC’s Deputy Political Editor James Landale said there had been a “change of atmosphere” in the Lords after Monday’s all-night sitting, with “a sense that both sides are beginning to contemplate the possibility of pulling back from the brink”.
Labour and the coalition also agreed to end Tuesday’s debate earlier than expected, as private talks between the two front benches opened up again, he added.
He said the most likely compromise would be allowing the size of constituencies to vary by 10% rather than the 5% proposed in the bill.
Lord Hunt told BBC Radio 5 live: “The opposition stands ready to discuss the bill with the government,” adding: “Let’s hope in the next few days we can have some constructive discussions.”
But he appeared unwilling to give ground on Labour’s central demand for the part of the bill that would reduce the number of MPs from 650 to 600 and redraw constituency boundaries, so that the they each contain about 75,000 voters, to be split off from the part dealing with an AV referendum and debated separately.
Under the AV system, voters rank candidates in their constituency in order of preference.
Anyone getting more than 50% of first-preference votes is elected.
If no-one gets 50% of votes, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and their backers’ second choices allocated to those remaining.
This process continues until one candidate has at least 50% of all votes in that round.
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“We are not at all opposed to a referendum on the alternate vote in May but we do object to its linking to this second part of the bill, which is very much about trying to fix constituency boundaries to help the Conservative Party at the next election,” he said.
He denied Labour peers were behaving like “dinosaurs” by tabling more than 100 amendments, adding: “We are progressive, we want to see reform in Parliament but you have to have proper scrutiny and that is what we are giving it.”
Conservative peer Lord Strathclyde, the Lords Leader, said he did not believe “a word” of Lord Hunt’s claims.
“It’s right that the two issues should be in the same bill because they will affect the same general election, which will be the next general election.
“The only reason why Philip and his pals, his dinosaur pals, in the House of Lords, are so opposed to it is because they know that if they can delay then they know that the Boundaries Commission can not do the work in order to get it ready for the next general election.”
He insisted the proposed redrawing of constituency boundaries would create a “fairer” system and would not necessarily benefit the Conservatives at the next election, as Labour have claimed.
He accused Labour of “bringing the House of Lords into disrepute” with their delaying tactics.
For the referendum on the introduction of the Alternative Vote (AV) for Westminster elections to take place as planned on 5 May, the bill needs to be law by 16 February.
This is because the Electoral Commission needs a full 10 weeks, as set out in previous legislation, to fully prepare for a referendum.
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