Quote:
Originally Posted by andrewb
Any other? That doesn't happen in our democracy. They can amend bills to suggest alternatives. The Lords are very good at line by line scrutiny, many of the changes are accepted by the Commons. It is the elected Commons who have the ultimate say on which bills become legislation. Thus the general public know exactly who is in government, who is responsible and who to hold accountable at the ballot box with the current system.
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You put forward an interesting case but you're still agreeing with having a very, very old system essentially greasing the wheels of modern-day politics. The two-tier system does work but it's long past time for the hereditary peers idea to be scrapped in favour of something less elitist. Many of those in the House of Lords have been kicked upstairs from the Commons and it defies belief to think that they suddenly become impartial.
Electing our Lords instead of simply slipping into it might also keep them a little more on their toes. It's a safe job for life and has very little in the way of evaluating whether they do a good or bad job. The public have grown deeply resentful of a system which gives preferential treatment to politicians at any level.