Arsechutney.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8128136.stm

Former Commons Speaker Michael Martin is to take a seat in the Lords despite a vetting panel expressing concern he could damage its reputation.

The Lords Appointment Commission raised concerns with Gordon Brown but was overruled, according to press reports.

What a stitch-up.
He wouldnt walk and the PM was the only one able to give him a push. Seems he made sure there was a soft landing for his chippy pal.

Hereditary peers sometimes seem so much more preferable…

seems more like a reward for being a scapegoat.

From Dizzy;

Imagine, if you will, that an Executive board member of a FTSE 100 company was found to have been presiding over a massive accounting misdemeanor in the company, that meant most of the staff were constantly taking the Michael (no pun intended) and submitting dodgy claims for taxis, food, and other expenses from the company.

Imagine too that this Executive board member decided that given his position in the whole mess he should resign. Now imagine if he resigned and he was suddenly made a non-Executive director of the same company by the Managing Director. Meanwhile, in the lower ranks of the company the others caught up by a scandal were looking for new work and packing up their desks in disgrace.

not as if he tried to get the Commons to reform their expenses policies before the recent newspaper revelations…

he might not have been the best Speaker but he’s just following tradition…

maybe the traditions of the Commons & Lords need scraping before using one person as a scapegoat…

Personally – I’d sack every last one of them that fiddled – duck house builders, moat cleaners, the lot of ’em
Martin did nothing worse that that shower of shite

jambo – Martin is every bit as complicit in the affair. He indulged the theiving nasties (on both sides of the house), spent a good deal of taxpayer money trying to oppose divulging details under FOI not to mention getting us to pay for libel lawyers to act as his spokesman (he already had spokesmen, and a PR outfit…)

CFH – are you saying the country should be run more like a company where everyone who owns a share gets to vote on all the appointments to the board?

My reform of the house of Lords.
Every week, one Lottery ticket winner will be given a seat in the HoL.
They will keep the seat for 5 years, and after that time will be given help in returning to the real world if necessary – similar to the army or TA. Accommodation will be provided in London. The salary will be more than adequate.

Accepting / Taking the seat will be optional, and members will be inducted in batches, with training on responsibilities & constitutional matters.

This way we have a more representative HoL which will be self-funding, ‘cos middle-class tossers like me may buy tickets for the chance of joining the HoL. instead of just for the money.

Constructive criticism, please?

Moses – can i wear trainers?

Moses – Id agree, but for one caveat.

There is some hefty legal work that is undertaken by the lords both in debates and drafting committees etc. I cant find any euphemistically nice way of saying it, so I wont, but we cant run the risk of letting thick people into the lords. Its bad enough with juries.

The one saving grace of appointed members is that they usually have had some opportunity to display a modicum of aptitude in their field prior to appointment (even if that only extends to “being a politician” – it may be a “weak” profession, but there’s a certain intellectual capacity required to pull it off)

Stoner, I do agree – but I also recognise that hereditary peers also may display a marked lack of intelligence, but we’ve put up with them for hundreds of years.

OK – how about giving the option of an aptitude test, with a (say) £100k consolation prize for those failing?

£100k consolation prize for those failing?

£100k for being thick?
Now that’s what I call socialism! 🙂

were do I buy me ticket

nah, it’s a lottery win, not a reward for failure.

But seriously, I’d love to have people like school classroom assistants and Ernie_Lynch with a legislative role. They might even influence the MPs and Ho Commons

Ernie_Lynch with a legislative role

😀

I can see Ernie wearing ermine.

It would go with that notorious silver spoon of his 🙂

Stoner

How does this

but we cant run the risk of letting thick people into the lords.

Tie in with this

Hereditary peers sometimes seem so much more preferable

the remarkable powers of expensive education.

the remarkable powers of expensive education.

that, & having 6 fingers on each hand to help with counting & stuff

He seems like a convenient scapegoat for some people. I thought better from Stoner than to get all Daily Mail about it. 😉