The Labour government has plans to end their ‘outdated and indefensible’ lawmaking position in the upper house
For centuries in Britain, the country’s noblemen have sat in parliament by virtue of their bloodline – but not for much longer.
The last dukes, earls, viscounts and barons are to be removed from the UK’s unelected upper house, the House of Lords, by the newly elected Labour government – which has declared their presence “outdated and indefensible”.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Lord Brookman among dozens not to speak, raising fresh questions about the chamber
A Labour peer claimed almost £50,000 in attendance and travel expenses covering every single day the House of Lords was sitting last year, despite never speaking or asking any written questions, a Guardian investigation reveals.
The former trade union general secretary David Brookman was among dozens of other lords and baronesses who never took part in a single debate, while almost a third of the 800 peers barely participated in parliamentary business over a 12-month period despite costing almost £3.2m in allowances.
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