No beef with Will

It was enchanting to see Will.i.am as vegetarian of the week in Polly Hudson’s column (Mirror, May 17). As a vegetarian and a fan of Will, I was moved to learn how he went to a farm, looked a cow in the eye and hasn’t eaten beef in 20 years.

I hope Will inspires many others to follow in his footsteps. Anna Blackmore Canterbury, Kent

Your article “New lords to cost us extra £1m” (May 22) is a distortion of the facts. The real cost per new member, based on the average existing expenses claimed by members, is £22,000 a year – so a total of less than £300,000 for the additional 13. Each MP costs more than three times as much.

You have been lured into error by the Electoral Reform Society which assumes that the costs of administering the Lords will rise with new members.

The ERS is also wrong to say the size of the House is increasing. In fact, since the last election, we have had 35 members leave and 22 join, including the 13 announced last week. So the House is actually getting smaller. The House recently agreed with the Lord Speaker’s Committee that we should aim to reduce our size further to 600. David Lipsey House of Lords