THE House of Lords spoke last week, stopping Chancellor George Osborne in his tracks over cuts to tax credits.

Leading the charge was Angela Smith, former Labour MP for Basildon, who is Shadow Leader of the House of Lords.

Baroness Smith of Basildon, has revealed she played a key role as the Government’s proposed £4.4billion cuts were shelved.

Her leadership on the issue has been praised by national commentators after a furious round of interviews from Newsnight and Sky News to BBC Radio 4.

The decision by opposition peers to vote against the Government prompted an angry response from George Osborne, who pointed the finger at “unelected Labour and Liberal peers” who defied the will of the elected House of Commons.

Lady Smith, who became shadow leader of the Lords in May, has consistently called for reform of the chamber, but believes the tax credits debate and vote was an example of the Lords at its best.

She said: “The motion we put forward said to the Government: ‘Look at it again because you have got it wrong’.

“We need a common sense approach to help people who will be hit dramatically and could be losing £25 to £40 a week.

“Parliament specifically lets lords look at issues like tax credits.

What the Government was doing was a major policy shift and we wanted them to look at it again.

“In opposition, they did the same thing to the Labour Government on more significant issues. This time they lost the argument, so they are trying to change the rules.”

After a scandal in July, when fellow Labour peer Lord Sewel was secretly filmed allegedly taking drugs in the presence of prostitutes, a national campaign calling for a fully-elected House of Lords was launched.

At the time, Baroness Smith called for reform to be looked at, but warned against kneejerk reactions.

Renewed criticism came last week when peers who seldom attend Parliament or take part in debates were drafted in by the Tories in an ultimately doomed attempt to win the tax credits vote.

Composer Andrew Lloyd-Webber, who had voted just 30 times out of 1,898 in 14 years in the Lords, was reported to have flown in from New York to back the bill.

Lady Smith has repeated her call for change to the chamber, but distanced her party from the actions of the Tories.

She said: “In the Labour Party, we have been arguing for changes in the system and for a constitutional convention to look at all these issues.

“But all our people who voted are those who took part in the debate.

“I think the Conservatives were very nervous about losing and didn’t want to argue about the substance of the issue, so they wanted to argue about constitutional issues instead.

“It is the first time I have seen a debate in Parliament where the minister responsible didn’t actually speak.

“The House of Lords isn’t elected and has people from all parties and some from none at all, so it is supposed to be a scrutinising chamber. We had more detail available to use than MPs did, so I can’t see anything wrong with what we did.”

Lady Smith, elected MP for Basildon in 1997, served in ministerial roles under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.

She was created a life peer in July 2010 – two months after losing to Tory Stephen Metcalfe in the general election.

Five months into her new role as shadow leader, Baroness Smith said she was relishing the challenge.

She added: “I have been involved long enough to know what is expected. But nothing in politics is certain, so you don’t know what issues will arise from one day to the next. It is a challenging role and one I am enjoying hugely.”