Lord Birkenhead in his reply said that there had been
only two cases in fifty years of Law Lords making an incursion into purely party politics. One was that of Lord Robertson, who made a speech on Tariff Reform, and the other was that of Lord Maciaaghten, who signed the Ulster Covenant. As for the position of the Lord Chancellor, the Constitution had for cen- turies made it a special one. No doubt it was an anomaly, but the Constitution was responsible. If Lord Carson's doctrine prevailed the public would lose confidence in the judiciary, because they would believe that instead of being truly impartial and independent, it was working for political ends. Lord Finlay, in an interesting speech, argued that Law Lords, unlike the ordinary Judges, ought to take part in politics. If they ' did not, the value of their legal experience would be lost.
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