House of Lords

Despite many government promises to democratise the Lords, at the end of the decade it is in a much stronger position than at the beginning.

There are no fewer than four unelected members of the Lords in the top ten Cabinet positions.

Lord Mandelson, who was twice disgraced and forced out of the Cabinet when serving as an elected MP, now finds himself in a stronger position than ever in government.

It is an outrage that in a multicultural society we still have 26 well paid Church of England Bishops in the Lords, claiming up to £300 per day in expenses, who literally live in palaces (referred to as grace and favour homes).

What makes me angry most of all is that the Government has the audacity to lecture third world dictatorships on the virtues of having a democratic nation when, in reality, we do not live in a fully democratic country ourselves.

Keith Dewison, Billingham.