The Lords ignore us at their peril!
THE main reasons I voted to leave the EU were that it is undemocratic and unaccountable. So it is no surprise that the unelected and overpaid House of Lords feel such an affinity for it. When Philip Hammond presented the EU Referendum Bill to Parliament, he stated it was for the people to decide. It was not for civil servants, Cabinet ministers, Parliamentarians or EU bureaucrats to decide for us. It is high time the Lords respected the wishes of the people and stopped undermining the Brexit negotiations.
JOHN O’REILLY, Wigan, Gtr Manchester. I AM glad of every step the Brexit Bill takes towards Britain and our Parliament regaining control. But I also welcome the actions of the Lords in strengthening the hand of Parliament to ensure the Government delivers a Brexit that will work best to promote this country. Parliament should, if necessary, order the Government to go back and do a better job. The Lords are there to improve legislation passed to it by the Commons. It is not correct to say that every time they vote against the Government they are undermining the will of the people. In fact, they have strengthened the hand of the people and reinforced our system of Parliamentary democracy in which MPs should take their lead from those who elect them. Well done, Lords!
KEVIN BARRETT, Falmouth, Cornwall. AFTER the attempt by the Lords to derail Brexit, despite the will of the people, this cabal of overpaid panjandrums is ripe for a clear-out. Everyone was entitled to a vote in the Brexit referendum, and for unelected Lords to disregard the result simply because they don’t like it is outrageous. They are not doing this for Remain voters or for the good of the nation. They are EU-loving plutocrats with an overblown sense of their importance and abhorrence for the idea of an independent nation. It would be instructive to see how committed they are to coming to the House to further their cause were we able to abolish their £300-a-day allowance.
ALAN POWER, Bideford, Devon. WHAT is that creaking and rumbling in Parliament? No, it is not the ancient joints of the Lords creaking or their bellies rumbling at the thought of a subsidised five-course lunch with wine. Could it be the sound of the tumbrils?
M. THOMPSON, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffs. THE Lords should be careful what they wish for because, if we stay in the EU, the Commons will just be the revising chamber for law handed down from Brussels while the Lords will cease to have any function.
JOHN EWEN, Wallingford, Oxon. WE NEED a second referendum. Not on whether we remain in or leave the EU, but to replace the House of Lords with an elected upper house.
RAY DYKSTRA, Warboys, Cambs.