Injustice of the House of Lords

OUR Governments (of all persuasions) preach their determination to achieve fairness in the lives of all in the UK. Many criticisms have been levelled at our continuation of the existence of the House of Lords.

The Lords currently number about 850 and includes the non-elected hereditary and life peers, the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, the Bishops of London, Durham and Winchester, and 21 other bishops of the Church of England. In 2013/14 the cost per capita was £118.000 and the total costs were £93 million.There appears to be no official retiral age and most peers are currently octogenarian, enjoying a system of self- decision re retiral. Each member of the House receives a tax-free remuneration of £300 per day irrespective of the time spent on duty (provided they sign in), the working day being roughly but not mandatory, 32 hours in a full week Monday to Thursday .

The House has a sitting possibility of 300 days per year.The possible remuneration for a Lord is therefore £90,000 per annum and £37.50 per hour. The Lords have no power to initiate or limit legislation and their reluctance to approve passage of bills will be over-ruled by The Commons. They are therefore in reality powerless.

Equally powerless is the ordinary man (or woman?) who will earn a taxable £8.75 per hour, £70 per day and in 300 days £21,000, with a defined national retiral age.

Can any of your readers say, hand on heart , that this reflects the aforementioned determination to promote a fair society?

John Hamilton,

Jackson Place, Bearsden.

Reader Evelyn Grant says she had a lucky capture of a kite flying across the face of a rainbow at RSPB Tollie Red Kites. This was taken using her Canon 80D and Tamron 18-270.