An SNP MP has called on those who backed Brexit to commit to abolishing the House of Lords while the UK negotiates leaving the EU.

North East Fife MP Stephen Gethins has tabled a motion in the Commons calling on the government to “bring forward a timetable for scrapping the House of Lords as part of the Brexit process.”

Gethins argued that those who were so committed to taking back control from Brussels should be as equally committed to taking back control from the unelected peers.

“There was a huge debate over the question of democracy during the EU Referendum,” he said. “The EU is served by 28 elected Member States in the Council, a European parliament that is directly elected by the people and a Commission with a Commissioner nominated by the elected Government of each Member State and approved, or not, by the European Parliament.

However Vote Leave argued that there was a need for more direct democracy as part of their campaign.

“I have therefore put down a motion in parliament calling for a timetable to be set out for the abolition of the House of Lords along with next steps in our relationship with the EU. It is important that the unelected officials in the Lords no longer have the ability to set rules for our day to day lives without being accountable to the people they serve. This is more important than ever before given the responsibilities that the Westminster

Parliament, including the House of Lords, will have over areas such as social protection, workers’ rights and the environment among others in the event of any Brexit.”

A Cabinet Office spokesman dismissed Gethins’ argument, saying last week’s referendum was on the EU and the EU alone: “We put one question to the British people: should the UK remain a member of the European

Union, or leave. They have given a clear instruction which the Government is committed to carrying out. The British Parliamentary system was not on the ballot paper.”

A spokesman for the Lords argued that they still had a role to play in a parliamentary democracy: “The House of Lords plays a key role in the UK’s legislative process, complementing the House of Commons in scrutinising the Government and revising legislation. In the 2014-15

Parliamentary Session the House of Lords made 1,213 amendments to legislation which were then accepted by Government and the House of Commons. Furthermore the House of Lords EU Committee is a key body in providing scrutiny of European issues and in May published report on the process of withdrawing from the EU which has been widely quoted by the UK and Scottish media in the last week.”

At the time of going to press the motion had been backed by 15 MPs, including Ann Clwyd from Labour and Jonathan Edwards from Plaid Cymru.