Another one bites the dust,
Dum, Dum, Dum,
Another one bites the dust,
And another one's gone,
And another one's gone
And another one bites the dust oh yeah!!!!!

Thatcher - Gone!!!!
Major - Gone!!!!
Mr Mekon Head - Gone!!!!

But of course as no-one here is a Tory it won't matter to any of you will it!

House of Lords Gone

Opposition Gone

House of Commons Gone

But as none of you over there are democrats...............

"House of Lords"

"Democrats"

???

House of Lords Gone - No great loss there then! Should save the country a small fortune.

Opposition Gone - So what's new! There's always the LibDems I suppose!

House of Commons Gone - Still looked OK on TV this morning!

Democracy - You mean giving people the right to choose in a Referendum, something the Tories wanted to deny us!

Dumb, Dumb, Dumb

"House of Lords"

"Democrats"

???

The only defence against parliamentary dictatorship - 2/3 majority mandated by 1/4 of the population!

Oh, I forgot - there's always the 50 LibDems - democracy is safe after all.

Phew, for a moment I had visions of half of notLabour staying at home and the newTonies still being able to walk all over everyone.

There really is no need for childish insults in response to a post - just because you don't like what has happened

The House of Lords was an unelected chamber based on heredity or patronage - scarcely the last bastion of democracy.

The 1st past the post system has generally produced governments elected by a minority of the voters - I agree it needs changing, but so, still, does the House of Lords

Sorry, exactly which post was childish and insulting?

"The House of Lords was an unelected chamber based on heredity or patronage - scarcely the last bastion of democracy."

So no change there then!

Except that it is now powerless to oppose a parliamentary dictatorship, whereas the "undemocratic" predecessor could.

"The 1st past the post system has generally produced governments elected by a minority of the voters"

There's a difference between having the support of a large minority of the electorate, fighting to defend yourself against a large minority of parliament, and having the press snapping at your heels, and a second chamber with teeth.

And having the support of a small majority of the electorate, being able to walk all over the "opposition" with the approval and help of a lap-dog meeja, with a totally ineffective second chamber.

 - I agree it needs changing, but so, still, does the House of Lords.

You can say that again.

But what chance of that now?

I hardy think the existence or otherwise of a second house full of Tory lapdogs is good for democracy - good for them and the Conservatives maybe!

As for the fact that only X% voted for the government, that is the way our system works and did so under the 18 years of Maggie & Major, like it or not. The fact is those who stayed at home had the chance to make a difference to the result but decided not to and now must live with the consequences of that decision - good or bad. The real problem with our system is that whoever is elected to government at national or local level, the people running the country are unelected Civil Servants who never change whatever party is in power.

Bogush you are beginning to sound like Mrs Thatcher. Ironic that she accuses new Labour of being an elected dictatorship - I thought she rather enjoyed the company of dictators?

It has always been possible for the Commons to overrule the House Of Lords by invoking the parliament act. I remember doing all this stuff in my History 'O' Level.

I think it was invoked several times by John Major.

It must be a good system - it has so far held off the banning of hunting with dogs and the privatisation of Air Traffic Control.

PS There is still a Conservative majority in the House Of Lords.