Members of the Home of Lords pocketed practically £15m in taxpayers’ money from each day allowances and bills over the past yr, new figures present.
Friends claimed £13.2m for his or her each day allowance between August 2020 and July this yr, based on analysis by the Home of Commons library.
The unelected politicians within the higher chamber claimed an extra £1.7m in bills, regardless of proceedings being performed remotely throughout a lot of the interval.
The SNP mentioned the “ludicrous sums” confirmed why the Lords ought to be abolished – accusing Labour of backing away from earlier guarantees to interchange it with an elected second chamber.
Evaluation by Nicola Sturgeon’s social gathering discovered that, with 22,140 speeches made by friends final yr, a mean of £674 was claimed per contribution in allowance and bills.
“The unelected Home of Lords is a everlasting stain on our democracy,” mentioned Pete Wishart, the SNP’s shadow Commons chief.
“Taxpayers up and down the nation will rightly really feel aggrieved that their taxes are being spent – in ludicrous sums – on an undemocratic, outdated system,” he continued.
“Solely by attaining independence can we lastly rid ourselves of this poisonous, undemocratic system as soon as and for all.”
Friends don’t take a wage for his or her position, however can declare a £323 allowance for every day they attend in particular person or £162 in the event that they be part of the work of the Lords remotely.
Within the run-up to the 2019 basic election, the then Labour chief Jeremy Corbyn pledged to eliminate the “undemocratic anachronism” and exchange it with an elected second chamber. However his successor, Sir Keir Starmer, has but to formulate a transparent place on the way forward for the Lords.
A Lords spokesperson identified that the newest annual figures represented a discount within the whole quantity claimed on the earlier yr, “as a consequence of modifications to working practices” throughout the pandemic.
“The Home of Lords is a busy and efficient chamber, scrutinising and bettering legal guidelines that have an effect on all of us and holding the federal government to account,” a spokesperson mentioned.
Kaynak: briturkish.com
