YP Comment: The best and worst of politics

The best? The measured contributions in the Brexit debate in which peers made constructive suggestions about the Article 50 process. The quality of speeches, and the respectful manner in which they were heard, was a welcome relief from the rabble-rousing witnessed in the Commons on setpiece occasions.

The worst? The less diligent members of the Upper House who make the most perfunctory of appearances in order to quality for a £300 taxpayer-funded attendance allowance. Such sleights of hand do a great disservice to politics per se.

Second in size only to the Chinese People’s Congress, the House of Lords – warts and all – comes under scrutiny in a forthcoming TV commentary in which respected members, like Lord Blunkett, question the powers of patronage exercised by successive prime ministers.

Yet, given how countless governments have failed to advance Lords reform, and how Theresa May is unlikely to have the stomach for such a fight when she’s contended with Brexit, perhaps Britain should be grateful that there remains a forum where prominent figures, some more illustrious than others, use their expertise to inform the political debate. Perhaps the time has come for better public understanding about the importance of this role until the reform question is answered once and for all.

Greg Wright: It’s wrong to use families as pawns in Brexit game