Former Commons Speaker Betty Boothroyd has vowed to fight plans for elections to the House of Lords.

Lady Boothroyd, the former MP for West Bromwich West, predicted that Peers would throw out the proposals, risking a showdown with the Government.

She was speaking after Jack Straw, the Justice Minister, produced another blueprint for Lords reform, after 11 years of wrangling and debate.

Mr Straw published a White Paper setting out two options – an upper house in which every member was elected, or in which 80 per cent were elected and 20 per cent were appointed.It follows a Commons vote last year in which MPs backed elections for the Lords.

However, some MPs have privately admitted that they voted the way they did in the expectation that the reforms would be blocked. Under the current system, the Commons is the dominant house in Parliament and the Lords must accept its decisions.

But opponents of an elected upper house claim that it would inevitably demand equality with the Commons, leading to chaos in the legislative system.

Lady Boothroyd said Mr Straw had failed to take into account the cost to the taxpayer of creating a new class of elected politicians.

Members of the House of Lords are not paid a salary, although they receive allowances for taking part in sittings, while MPs are paid £61,820 annually.

The plans were also criticised by MP John Spellar (Lab Warley), who challenged Mr Straw in the House of Commons.

Mr Spellar asked: “Once a second Chamber has an elected mandate, what can stop it from claiming equal responsibility to this House?”