This landmark in defining the constitutional relationship between the House of Lords and the House of Commons arose from the conflict between obstructive Conservative peers and Herbert Asquith's reforming Liberal government – and specifically the Lord's attempts to block the passage of the 'People's Budget' of chancellor David Lloyd George.
As a result, in November 1910, the government decided to go to the country on a proposal – known as the Parliament Act – to curb permanently the power of the Lords. But first, they decided, George V to agree to a mass creation of peers if the Lords continued to resist.
In the end, he didn't have to take this disagreeable step. Six weeks after his coronation, the Parliament Act passed the Lords by whisker, because the bishops decided to vote with the government to save the monarchy from embarrassment and the Lords from themselves.
By the Act's provisions, the veto power of the Lords over legislation initiated in the Commons was reduced to a power to delay for one month in the case of money bills and for two years for other public bills (later reduced to one year). In addition, the maximum length of time between general elections was reduced from seven to five years.
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 Q&A: The Parliament Act
www.guardian.co.uk/hunt/Story/0,,1354172
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With the government poised to use the Parliament Act to force through legislation banning hunting with hounds in 2004, Guardian columnist Sarah Left looked at the machinery that the Commons uses to impose its will on the Lords.
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