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Alan22 said:
I like Rachael Reeves, it occurs to me that the UK having always had male chancellors they might have missed a gift, I think a tighter grip on the shopping bill might just be a sensible economic policy.
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Not in my household it wouldn’t be. I like spending my fortune thanks very much.
 
RegB said:
That seems to be about abolishing the HoL, which was not what I was talking about, and which I regard as being a bad thing. The House should as restored to the superior institution it was pre-Blair.
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As far as I can understand it has no real functional authority left, apart from delaying an Act of parliament for up to 12 months. It seems effectively defunct already. I guess it'll turn out to be one of those institutions no-one noticed until it was lost. It seems currently to have an excess of members, and an insufficiency of purpose. It only remains for Parliament to reduce it's total members and it'll be reduced to nothing more than a quaint custom.
 
carol brown said:
As far as I can understand it has no real functional authority left, apart from delaying an Act of parliament for up to 12 months. It seems effectively defunct already. I guess it'll turn out to be one of those institutions no-one noticed until it was lost. It seems currently to have an excess of members, and an insufficiency of purpose. It only remains for Parliament to reduce it's total members and it'll be reduced to nothing more than a quaint custom.
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Not intellectually equpipped for this one but my understanding is that the house of lords served as a sort of consultaion process for proposed bills, bit like the grown ups giving it a thorough going through before the commons goes to the vote, but somewhere along the line one of the parties(I presume Conservative) discovered they could install their own who would express their gratitude by being receptive to a quiet email for support, taken to questionable levels by Liz Truss who elevated no less than 32 making her the most prolific ennobler for time in office as well as one other notable prize involving the lifespan of fresh veg.
This has resulted in the new Labour government facing the odd situation of passing legislation to a load of sheepish looking Conservative peers that can't speak till they recieve instruction from their handlers.
 
carol brown said:
I've been trying to understand the precise working of the 2nd chamber, after your remarks. I've always had the impression that it was generally a good thing - a sort of last bastion of defence against poorly considered legislation from the lower chamber.
But I'm not very familiar with it's reformation, or what drove it. I've noticed the periodical calls for getting rid of it, but not really understood the arguments against it.
Why do you feel it's failing Bob? And do you think we need it, as is my impression but not my certainty?
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Carol, my impression, not yours.
 
Alan22 said:
Not intellectually equpipped for this one but my understanding is that the house of lords served as a sort of consultaion process for proposed bills, bit like the grown ups giving it a thorough going through before the commons goes to the vote, but somewhere along the line one of the parties(I presume Conservative) discovered they could install their own who would express their gratitude by being receptive to a quiet email for support, taken to questionable levels by Liz Truss who elevated no less than 32 making her the most prolific ennobler for time in office as well as one other notable prize involving the lifespan of fresh veg.
This has resulted in the new Labour government facing the odd situation of passing legislation to a load of sheepish looking Conservative peers that can't speak till they recieve instruction from their handlers.
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Alan, accurate and succinct. The chamber has been abused by political force.
 
The House of Lords needs scrapping as it serves no real purpose other than to give retired old privileged MPs a wage to add to their holiday fund. A little like a regular pensioner gets a job in a petrol station to top up his pension.
 
Bob Rathbone said:
Alan, accurate and succinct. The chamber has been abused by political force.
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indeed it’s supposed to balance out the elected House of Commons by people whose position is not impacted by need to please the electorate. Plus the fact that most are older than those in the commons indicate a degree wisdom gathered through experience.

But the upper house is flawed for two reasons. The hereditary peers get their place by birth. If they have no interest in politics or a given subject they don’t have to turn up for the debate or vote. The life peers, mostly promoted to lords by an outgoing PM, are an attempt to preserve a line of thinking when the said PM or their party is out of power. Again the same rules of attendance applies. This has the net effect of polarised opinions with those in attendance, ie only those with a strong view on a given subject bother to debate. Hence pictures of an empty chamber with half a dozen lords debating.

Popular thinking is that many take the opportunity to call in and register (and get paid) on days when they are in London for other business.

The question is, are politicians and public ready for a US style Senate/congress setup with all the issue it generates or will a more unworkable fudge emerge.
 
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Bob Rathbone said:
Alan, accurate and succinct. The chamber has been abused by political force.
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I must have had a rare lucid moment, like most probably I have never really looked at what they actually do, I like the concept of the most experienced and still able being given an advisory role overlooking those with more energy, but when you have people like Michelle Moan and the odd Russian oligarch being given a place you can see the very obvious scope for corruption, I imagine what needs reviewed most is who gets to choose who and why.
 
Bob Rathbone said:
Carol, my impression, not yours.
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I'm sorry, I'm not sure I understand?
oh, I meant my own impression that it is failing, but not my own certainty. Not my impression of your thoughts Bob. - Is there a misunderstanding of my remarks?

And I was actually asking for your knowledge, your insight, not questioning your opinions. As I said it isn't something I know much about. But never mind Bob I'll get off your thread.
 
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carol brown said:
I'm sorry, I'm not sure I understand?
oh, I meant my own impression that it is failing, but not my own certainty. Not my impression of your thoughts Bob. - Is there a misunderstanding of my remarks?

And I was actually asking for your knowledge, your insight, not questioning your opinions. As I said it isn't something I know much about. But never mind Bob I'll get off your thread.
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Carol, it was my own impression not yours, I was not questioning your judgement. Keep posting, you make some kind of sense out of this occasionally dysfunctional forum. :)
 
Bob Rathbone said:
Carol, it was my own impression not yours, I was not questioning your judgement. Keep posting, you make some kind of sense out of this occasionally dysfunctional forum. :)
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Thank you for that Bob, I'm afraid text sometimes gets confused in translation. I am aware that I'm not conversant with online etiquette - a bit like a puppy that hasn't been house-trained, online chat rooms are not my usual habitat, and it seems a strange habit to have developed in my dotage LOL I thought I'd been rude somehow. I'm grateful for your reassurance.:)
 
carol brown said:
Thank you for that Bob, I'm afraid text sometimes gets confused in translation. I am aware that I'm not conversant with online etiquette - a bit like a puppy that hasn't been house-trained, online chat rooms are not my usual habitat, and it seems a strange habit to have developed in my dotage LOL I thought I'd been rude somehow. I'm grateful for your reassurance.:)
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I wouldn’t worry Carol. You will find very few on here with any etiquette anyway.
 
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