House of Lords reform 2015: Apathetic Lords cost the UK nearly £1.3m last year says new report
Looks like our favourite antiquated arm of the legislature, the House of Lords, just can’t stay out of trouble.
At the end of August, the government announced 45 new peers, taking it to 850 members and subsequently enduring some heavy criticism from the UK press.
Now a new report from the Electoral Reform Society claims that apathetic Lords cost us all nearly £1.3m last year, as members who failed to speak in a single debate still collected a considerable amount in expenses.
A total of 30 peers kept their vow of silence for longer; failing to speak for the whole of the last parliamentary session, but collectively pocketing more than £750,000 for their time.
And they weren’t even the worst.
Eight Lords failed to either speak in the chamber or vote on a single motion in last year’s session, but still clocked a modest £30,000 for turning up.
Of course, The Capitalist trusts that none of these layabout peers were drawn from the City…