Re your story on the PM appointing more unelected peers (Report, 27 August), seats in parliament should not be used as a handout for big political donors and campaign apparatchiks. The fact that Johnson would have to appoint a huge number to significantly “rebalance” the Lords shows the absurdity of the current set-up: each new PM tries to pack it with cronies in order to tip the scales in their favour. Let’s not forget that long after Brexit is over, these peers will be claiming expenses and deciding on our laws for the rest of their lives, if they choose to. This feudal relic needs to be scrapped and replaced with a democratic second chamber.
It’s time to end the scandal of unelected power in modern Britain and give us a genuinely accountable upper house.
Darren Hughes
Chief executive, Electoral Reform Society
• Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com
• Read more Guardian letters – click here to visit gu.com/letters
• Do you have a photo you’d like to share with Guardian readers? Click here to upload it and we’ll publish the best submissions in the letters spread of our print edition
