U.K. Government Defeated Again in Parliament on EU Election Law London, Nov. 12 (Bloomberg) -- The U.K. government has been defeated again in parliament on its bill to reform the voting system for elections to the European Parliament in June. Members of the House of Lords, the upper chamber, defeated the government's proposals for a proportional representation system for the elections by 237 votes to 194. Prime Minister Tony Blair's official spokesman said before the vote the government would decide what to do if the administration lost the vote. It's the third time the House of Lords has defeated the government on the issue in the past few weeks. Under British law the government can invoke legislation to overrule the upper chamber, but that can't come into operation for a year, too late to be in time for the June elections. Government spokesmen say they're being defeated on the measure by hereditary members of the House of Lords; the government is committed to abolishing those seats in the next session of parliament, starting November 24. 18:48:36 11/12/1998
