CITY chiefs have hit back after a member of the House of Lords said York was “seen as something of an outer Mongolia by the general public”.

As reported by the Press yesterday (Wednesday) - the comment was made in a discussion about relocating the upper house to the city.

But York councillors struck back - saying criticism of the proposed move reveals some members of the House of Lords are "badly out of touch".

Lord Singh of Wimbledon made the remarks as members of the House of Lords questioned whether the government is still considering moving the Upper House to York.

Lord Singh, who was made an honorary doctor of law by York St John University in 2014, said: "York is seen as something of an Outer Mongolia by the general public, who view the House of Lords as an outdated institution. The reality is that it is packed with experts in every field of life."

It has been suggested the House of Lords could move to the York Central site.

Leader of City of York Council Keith Aspden said he would support any plans to relocate the civil service or House of Lords to York and has written to Prime Minister Boris Johnson to emphasise this.

He added: “In the light of the comments made by members in the House of Lords, it is only right to urge the Government to provide further clarification on how the proposed relocation would affect the scrutiny and accountability powers exercised by the second chamber.

"As Lib Dems we have long called for the House of Lords to be reformed to ensure that those who scrutinise the laws made in the Commons are also directly elected by the people."

Cllr Paul Doughty, leader of the Conservative group, said York is "perfectly placed", adding: "I am not one iota surprised that there is resistance from some of the Lords.

"Some are on another planet, never mind Outer Mongolia! Change might well bring an end to a rather cushy lifestyle for some who rarely venture from a London bubble to see what it’s like across the rest of the country. This lack of understanding and blinkered view of anything north of the M25 for some, to me, proves exactly why the Government should push ahead with moving some of the Government departments north and why not the Lords to York?"

And Labour group leader Cllr Danny Myers said: "The views of various peers in the debate highlights just how badly out of touch the House of Lords is.

"If we are talking about reform of the House of Lords, then let's take the chance now to make it fully elected, so that you can't be born into a seat in the Lords, nor appointed to it.

"We back the moving of civil service jobs out of the capital and welcome the idea of using the York Central teardrop site as a place for new jobs to be created. This development needs urgent review so that it is not packed with luxury apartments that will not be affordable for York residents."

Meanwhile Sean Bullick, managing director of Make It York, said: “York would be a brilliant location for the House of Lords or indeed another government department.

"The city is beautiful, dynamic, and just over a hundred minutes on the train from London. York can help the government to deliver on its levelling-up commitments by retaking its historic place as the capital city of the north.”

Earlier in the Lords debate, Liberal Democrat Lord Wallace of Saltaire criticised the proposals, saying: “Have there been any studies either of the site in York - which has actually been vacant for some time because they find it very hard to get interest from commercial operators for it - or how this will affect the relationship between the two Houses or between Parliament and Government?”

While Lib Dem Lord Tyler described the proposals as a plan to “banish” the Lords to York - adding: “Would it not be much less disruptive to send the whole Cabinet Office to York?”