Down at the red end of parliament, turkeys were voting for Christmas. Or at least gobbling about it. It is rare that the House of Lords sits before lunch on a Tuesday but they had to begin early to fit in the 96 peers who wished to speak on a matter of the utmost importance: themselves. Specifically, they were discussing how many of them should continue to enjoy what a Lib Dem peer this year described as “the best daycare centre for the elderly in London” and whether a bit of pruning and lopping might be in order. Lord Burns had led an inquiry that recommended cutting the number of peers from 830 to 600, using a “two out, one in” system, and introducing a…

Source: The Times December 20, 2017 01:30 UTC