Accountable Lords

SIR – You report (September 21) that members of the House of Lords have claimed millions of pounds in taxpayer-funded allowances, despite not speaking in the Upper Chamber.

After Tony Blair’s failure to reform the Lords, it is time to do so properly.

Why not have an Upper Chamber run along the lines of a local council, paying members an annual bursary? If they do not attend the required number of sittings, the payment should be withheld.

There must be a fixed number of seats, allocated according to the number of seats for each party in the Commons, and members should be chosen at general elections.

Just a thought, on behalf of the over-burdened taxpayer. Jackie Perkins

Whitstable, Kent

SIR – It would seem that the House of Lords and the EU share the same gravy train. Peter Preston

Ivybridge, Devon