There are 206 female peers out of 781 (26%) in the House of Lords as of March 2019.


Let that sink in.

Yes - reasonable enough progress.

Since women were allowed to become members.


Just over 60 years ago.

Via the Life Peerages Act.

After reading your "dangle dicks" and "flat fronts" satire Bookworm I am unsure whether you consider this a positive or negative thing...?

Am I supposed to operate from a position of fact and reality at all times? Surely irony/sarcasm or highlighting ridiculousness is just as important?

The discussion around men vs women will always remain because...well...men aren't women and women aren't men. No matter how much they try and move the goalposts.

I'm glad you are interested in my writing. Digest this lot below. Comments welcomed.

mercedesblak.wordpress.com/public-intere...o-can-play-that-one/

wyot wrote:
I am unsure whether you consider this a positive or negative thing...


I have no idea either!

Neither do I!



How does one measure these things?
It would help if we knew why they were elected and by whom!

Don't you think we should be told?

They are not elected...

Bookworm wrote:
Neither do I!



How does one measure these things?
It would help if we knew why they were elected and by whom!

Don't you think we should be told?

It is a quite transparant process re number of appointments per elected Government...Arguments go on..who is chosen and why (and I would not over complicate the why the why = money) is another question...

very odd to have an unelected Upper House although I'm rather partial to the idea that the "elders" of a community be given a leading role.

What puts me off though is that the Lords have become victim to crass political shenanigans such as the ghastly John Mann being elevated by the Tories as a so-called "antisemitism csar", a role which he seems to have assumed is to attack left wing websites not critical enough of Labour, the party that supported and built his career.

There is bound to be a Lord Tom Watson at some stage.

Yet again why I now love the Oz political system which is about as fair as it gets with a Senate with the 2 major parties almost equal and a substantial body of independents like the Greens who can nip in the bud any extreme legislation and where half are elected at election and errant Senators usually booted by the public.

It seems every time the public decide to change a government at election they ensure the Senate is the opposite as a sort of handbrake on extremism.

The Lords sounds incredibly bloated although I'm very reluctant for any serious change as I have to keep arguing with other old lefties ( who look much older than me even if they're not and certainly not as pretty ) that the Royal Family is Britain's best tourist attraction and should be retained even though a Republic is obviously more democratic except..along can come a Donald Trump.

But change is inevitable isn't it?. And that change is more likely these days to come from the crass and vulture Tories, now the party of Real Estate Agents and Bookies runners (fine people) who have np sense of history as exampled that all British Eccentricity has now been totally banned.
#Prove me wrong and point out a living eccentric !!

Can you imagine Lords today surviving and not falsely accused of something ghastly such as the lovable Norman St Stevas who once invited me to a party he hosted in Westminster for the Village People or the dandy Leo Abse.

They'd end up appearing in the Mail accused of being habitues of Elm Guest House signing in under names Like Mabel or Samantha.

Some reckon Jacob Rees Moog is "eccentric" but he's more like an undertaker who would depress other undertakers and the LA Times ludicrously named Boris Johnson as a "British eccentric" with his contrived hair and blatant lies which perfectly examples my theory that there are no eccentrics left.

I will however concede that the glorious Michael Fabricant of the Most Luscious locks in Westminster is a border-line eccentric.

Whoops.
Appointed.

There are reasons why these people are given peerages. Do you think it is always about hard work and money?

Any rewards for keeping quiet? The nominators could be a very telling factor.
With everything else going on, somebody needs to start looking there. Especially with Brexit being rammed through with an agenda under the guise of democracy.

Well done for mentioning Elm Guest House Hedda. Are you thinking what I am thinking? I think I wrote it on Twitter once or twice or three times...I like to repeat things when I am ignored.

Enough of the 'self-talk'. I am sure plenty of people love you. True love (on the other hand) is hard to find.
Probably better off staying in and having a w**K!

Somebody secretly loved me once. Rather bizarrely they told my Mother. I didn't pursue it, but it made me smile.

Brexit wasn't the choice of the electorate then?

By deception?

If the intelligence agencies are worried about Murdoch Barney, something is certainly not right.

The amount of 'under the radar' shafting going on in this country is sickening.

Some of it is yet to be made officially public.

Specific evidence would be helpful.

And was my vote for Brexit, not really mine?!

Of course it was yours Barney and as a Remainer I respect the difference of opinion.

Like any issue there are shades on either side, positive and negatives. The most persuasive argument for me for Brexit was the democratic one, i.e European hegemony. But as a pragmatist I still believe it will be economic suicide, with all the attendant misery that entails. I consider Brexit an ideological position and the 20th century showed why ideology - communism or facism - should be avoided at all costs.

But the decision has been democratically made so let's get on with it; presentation and manipulation of information is as old as mankind.

For me Brexit demonstrates the flaws in democracy; not the glories of it..

No Disrespect, but from your posts I see you are 'pro what that is wrong with the UK'. I wouldn't expect you to understand.

As for evidence on intelligence, I know it, my father knows it and so does his source - including MI5 who obviously dont have a problem with me saying it. Why? Because it damages those who deserve it?
Mi5 have a lot of power as my father stated. This is only a part of what he rd me and I'm sure he knows more.

They aren't stupid and they know who has been plotting .

As for Brexit, it was clear from the hacking Inquiry what was being planned ( I posted videos on here).
I would like to know why the CPS isn't in court themselves being questioned.

They would be foolish to ignore this and allow Brexit to continue!
Things will become quite unpleasant.

The EU has had its day - and helped many of the poorest nations to better themselves. But the world has changed significantly in recent years - particularly from an economic standpoint.

UK will be the first to leave the club, and stand on its own again - without interference from Europe. Many more will follow - at least those not dependent on Brussels.

By dealing with those we want to will give us an edge over our ex-club members. And allow us to trade with those countries we choose, on terms WE agree. The EU - for the UK - was never, for ever.

Wyot - I respect your opinion also; and agree that Brexit isn't risk free. Alliances are good - between businesses and nations - say, during war times, and afterwards; then back to individualistic pathfinding.

Those of you in favour of Brexit and trade...could you answer this?

We are a nation of near 70 million. WTF are we actually selling ?
Much of our I dustries were sold off, we have become reliant on superpowers for things like trade and security?

We are a group of islands stuck in the middle of the ocean. Europe has the advantage of being landlocked, thus shipping tariffs are very low or non existent if they trade with each otger.
If we usage ourselves, how do you think they will punish us?

That's only one aspect. Oil is another.

Putin has the right idea. If you can work it out.

The EU isn't and has never been about trade. It is largely about security too - something Farage has never seemed to touch on. Funny that?
Mind you, some of the kind of airheads which hang on to his every word are an example that goes against creating a safer place.

The next form of capitalism isn't going to be products of any kind, it will be something we should have bought into a long time ago.

Five letters, starts with T and ends with H.

Get your thinking caps on.

I'm currently writing today's blog. I have sorted out the navigational menu on my WordPress now so things can be found easier.
I dropped a link to it on a social media (bio) of mine which was set to private. Oddly, when I checked my WordPress stats, a view had come from that link from a user which was not a follower. I checked back later to find the user account no longer existed. Hmm. People don't want to hear or read what I have to say, but they go to the lengths of hacking or cyber abuse. Must be crap hackers because my WordPress links are in many places.
More likely a stunt than a hack.

Nearly 3 weeks in to Dry January and I haven't touched a drop. And I'm finding it easy because alcohol was boring me a long time ago.

Sometimes you have to take stock of what you need and who you need. Or don't need or want!
I'll never say 'never' though.

Book...Google is your friend.

If the UK isn't selling anything - how is our GDP the 7th largest in the world!?

At more than £3 trillion.

Please check your new friend (Google), before posting more erroneous statements.

I didn't make the claim we werent making sales. Learn to read properly.

7th? We could be the 1st.