WHILST I used to support unthinkingly our bicameral legislature in its traditional form, I have become increasingly concerned with what over the years has become an unreasonably huge unelected second chamber, the House of Lords, and now believe it is high time that second chamber was reduced and reformed.
The current attempt by the majority of those Lords to claim the moral high ground in their vote that the UK residency rights of EU nationals living here be confirmed come what may regarding the residency fate of UK citizens living in the EU 92Lords vote in EU national welcomed”, The Herald, March 2), only demonstrates how out of touch with reality their Lordships have become, sheltered as they are in their privileged Ruritanian existence. Surely they must have known that seeking to protect the interests of our fellow citizens living in the EU, Theresa May sought to resolve the residency situation with the EU on a reciprocal basis, but was rebuffed by Angela Merkel, who took the understandable position that such matters could only be negotiated once Article 50 had been triggered by the UK. Now we have the farcical position of their Lordships grandstanding by erecting a barrier potentially to delay that triggering and if successful weaken our negotiating position, all to the possible detriment of those of their fellow citizens living in the EU.
I have to declare an interest as one of my daughters has lived and worked in Strasbourg for years, and is now as uncertain of her future there as no doubt are her opposite numbers here, but who is to speak up for her residency rights? Certainly not their Lordships.
Alan Fitzpatrick,
10 Solomon's View, Dunlop.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel