Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ

"What next? A Lords of 900? 1000?"

Good Lord!

What is such a large collective of peers known as?

A multitude of peers?

A sea of piers?

How about
An insult-to-democracy-and-when-are-we-going-to-get-to-elect-a-proper-upper-house of peers?

A little contrived I grant you.

Lets sort out this debacle by adding more peers - you just couldn't make it up. More worringly they'll get another foot in mouth unelected crony back with them more regulary now that Lord Young has shown his true colours.

"proportionality"

they have enough of that yet accountability remains at zero. Since when is proportionality a feature of the norman monarchy model?

they'll keep bumping it up and then say 'its too complex' to reform. ie the same argument they have used for 100 years.

monarchists will never freely give up their positions. The lesson of government is any reform not acted on in the first year is unlikely ever to happen?

the house of lords is an open form of state corruption the north korean govt would envy?

THINK DAVE

Dave is really taken with Dave; so much so that he forgets we are not.

There was the crass RE-SHAPED HEAD on the election poster. Few seemed to ponder what it tells you if a man is prepared to have his head altered for PR purposes. Why not simply hire a HEAD DOUBLE?

Then - wrong headedness notwithstanding - he SO wanted his China trip to be prop'ly recorded, that he got his own vid-n-snap team. Did you notice his odd penguinness in news footage? Cameron camera consciousness.

Now he is loading the Lords. Is it too early for filling the war-chest for the next election? What is Nick's view on all this - all a bit Old Tory. One thing is clear:

WE HAVE GOT OURSELVES ANOTHER ONE.

THE SWAN AND CAKE (#3)

They are going to need a few extra bars.

It is an absolute disgrace.Hundreds of young men dying to 'bring' democracy to far away lands.It is time they were all back in the UK, in order to bring democracy to Westminster.

AS PREVIOUSLY POSTED (#6)

The troops should be called home to march on London, under the command of disaffected (and lied to) military leaders. Time for the Monarchy and the Palace of Westminster to meet ultimate 'reason'.

So you can kiss goodbye to reform then....

PS

Give us peerage mate ... Only snag I won't pay for it in any way at all nor will I undertake to please anyone by doing their bidding - but hey its a nice secure club! Many of the contributors to the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔs blogs have shown just as much knowledge of, and care and concern for, the country than many of those deemed worthy of ennoblement!

(Of course the only slight snag is that the moderators will delete our contribution if we let slip any of our personal details!!!)

7 barrie

You sound like the old codgers in the Seventies in which Lord Louis Mountbatten and Cecil King were going to bring the army back from Ireland and send Harold Wilson packing. The cast of characters is different but the plot is much the same. The idea of a putsch is amusing but not to be taken too seriously.

8 John_from_Hendon

Have a look at the list of new peers and spot the Hendon man. I wonder if your detractors could do that?

#8 - John_from_Hendon

Why don't they simply make everyone peers? Not only would it make the Lords representative but we could get rid of the Commons altogether because no one would be eligible to sit in it.

We expats could pop down to our local embassies and register as offshore peers. Perhaps you can apply online.

Its absolutely disgusting that when the rest of the country is being asked to take savage cuts that another 50 people are made a burden to the tax payer.

There are already too many and yet we are given some more ??? will this makes government more efficient ??? of course it wont.. we needs cuts of 10 to 20 % of all groups of politicians but we have no say in the matter...

Its appalling, we can now see what BIG society really means, all in it together are we ??? yeah in a pigs eye. There should be no more lords appointed until they number the same as MP's at the very least......

threnodio_II - your idea has about as much chance as any other House of Lords reform (unfortunately zilch) and is in fact pretty much what seems to be happening slowly anyway, well until they start to hit the great unwashed when an apparent life on benefits will presumably trump a life on benches (or should that be beaches?).

JUST FOR A MOMENT I GAVE UP IRONY FOR FANTASY STAN (#9)

However, I do regret the passing of Princess Diana. I have no doubt that she would have raised an army (probably of world-sourced mercenaries) and wrested the throne from The Firm, with overwhelming popular support at home - AND THAT'S DEMOCRACY!

This time I really AM serious.

FROM THE DESK OF LORD SINGLETON (#11)

Can't stop long - just run over the au-pair. She was an illegal, so I have to check the insurance position, regarding damage to the catalytic converter. Arm and a leg those. Anyone had similar experience who can advise?

Toodle pip.

The question is how we can expect the House of Lords to be anything other than an obedient servant of the lower chamber when those recruited into it are chosen by the party in power?

The whole idea of the House of Lords is that it should be above politics and able to hold the government to account should their more objective scrutiny find proposed government legislation to be ill-advised or capable of improvement.

Some chance! This country is hooked on adversarial party politics like a junkie hooked on Heroin. Nothing will change, returning to rationality and clarity via Cold Turkey is just too painful a prospect.

Sounds like the upper chamber will soon need an extension built as successive administrations attempt to frustrate the attempts of the one before to fill it with it's own supporters. Pathetic, but it's British politics in a nutshell!

'THE HONOURABLE THIRD CHAMBER' (#16)


Spot on TMR. And for base corrupt government there's Commons and Lords.

Vote integrity. SPOILPARTYGAMES

"What is such a large collective of peers known as?

A multitude of peers?

A sea of piers?"


How about an expense of peers?

will todays march against the war have any effect? Nah, didn't think so if two million marched in Feb 2003 and nobody took any notice and since then hundreds of thousands have died it just shows you how much we can expect from the democratic process, if it changed anything etc., .....

#16

Well said , the answer therefore is in our own hands to never vote for the parties, before they take away our vote.

#18

I suggest a "trough of peers "

A trough of peers? Too right. But really it's a trough of MP's, quango members, clergy, trade union officials, CBI members, civil servants....

The irreversible ascendancy of China as the future rulers of the world is proof in principle of the initial and ongoing lack of principle in the practice of government around the world.

Just as the Pope tonight is saying that a male prostitute is using good moral judgement in using a condom, politicians, when they fear the masses are rejecting their dogma will engage in extremes of hypocritical revisionism (I mean the Pope making moral common ground between male prostitutes and the holy sea!). So China, and indeed India, decide to make the West look like radical Leftists by refusing to set up anything remotely like a welfare state thus allowing entrepreneurs nepotistically linked to the membership of the dominant party to ride the proletariat like a emaciated donkey in the cause of economic growth aka individual greed.

Yes it's sad the House of Lords is continuing to be nothing more than an expensive reproduction of the the party political latrine of rationality we call parliament. But spare a thought for the people of China, not only are they being treated like dirt by their ruling party, but they are paying, through continuing loans to governments like ours, for more and more of our workforce to live in idleness, and for our nations to descend gently towards bankruptcy.

Intellectually we in the West remain the suckers of the universe, after all we have a choice, but the Chinese working class deserve the title more. Not only have they been betrayed by their government like the rest of us, but they have also been betrayed by all the Western companies that have exploited them as cheap labour, and all the rest of us who buy cheaper stuff made in China without realising their workforce is still back in the dark days of the industrial revolution.

#10. stanilic and
#11. threnodio_II

No chance of sitting next to you two on the red leather benches then!

PS why don't we make the House of Lords a proper London club and make its non-performing members pay to remain members if they do not turn up and participate?

THE POPE JOKE

As I understand it, the only objection to condoms is as a BARRIER TO PROCREATION. Where alternative practices are concerned, The Pope need not have said anything. I reckon Tony is advising.

#22 - John_from_Hendon

Only if they are virtual benches or the daily allowances cover the return air fare from Budapest - business class of course - even Lords need to sleep sometimes!