Let the people of Britain decide who should lord it over us

why don’t we have a referendum on a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ basis whether we need the House of Lords, either in its present state, or the proposed one that is purely political for all three parties?

What we should do is gradually close it down, again over a few years. First retiring the over-65s, then the bishops and then all the rest of them and make sure that no one in this country becomes a lord again. In the meantime we should have a good look at America’s Second Chamber and any other large democracy that has one and find a way of making the decisions on who/where/why and how many and a voting system that will make them neutral, who will help finalise what is good for the country and we should vote in or out every four years. Plus, Parliament should go back to a four-year period and not fixed.

They should be paid for full time working and not for the part time attendance we have today. We might then just get people of all ages and experience who will get this country back on its feet again.

We should not be paying any of them pensions and the same should be done in Parliament. Pension levels should be fixed for both and this should be done via an insurance company or someone in the pension market with a good record of independence.

From: Peter Hyde, Kendale View, Driffield.

THERE is much talk about reforming the House of Lords and this may well be a very good idea. However, in my humble opinion, it would be far better to reform the House of Commons. The number of MPs could be reduced by a third at least without detriment to its effectiveness.

Watching live transmissions, I note that there are many times, during debates, very few MPs actually are there.

One asks why? If the debates are so unimportant then why do they take place?

The organisation appears to be haphazard to say the least and the only time full attendance, or near full attendance, is when the Prime Ministers Questions take place or if there is a major matter to discuss.

The rest of the time many MPs don’t bother to attend. In my book there should be compulsory attendance during business hours and plenty of time left for constituency business. Many members never have anything to say other than Baa, Baa, Baa.

From: Rodney Atkinson, Stocksfield, Northumberland.

NICK Clegg rejects appointment by politicians of members of the House of Lords but his proportional representation system would hand over to those very party political hierarchies the selection of candidates for his new House of Lords. The PR system in Clegg’s legislation would introduce by the back door what the people have already rejected in a referendum.

He further asserts that since all parties were agreed that the Lords should be reformed and were elected on that platform there is no need for a referendum. But it precisely because all three parties agreed that the voters had no alternative to vote for – the very situation in which a referendum of the true sovereigns (the people) is required.

Clegg says we need Parliament to hold the Government to account – that is exactly what has happened over his Lords Bill. And he does not like it.