Over to you, m'lords

In which we ask, what is the upper chamber for in a Parliamentary democracy.

Is it to either rubber stamp everything the lower chamber says and does, or is it to scrutinise and question legislation that is passed before them.

If it is the former, then we may as well save ourselves a whole load of money and abolish it now. If it is the latter, to ensure that The Commons dies not pass something through without realising, or ignoring the implications. Say, something like the Brexit Bill.

That on the day that the Lords began their debates about the bill, many of the pillars of the 4th estate chose to run stories questioning the point and relevance of the Upper Chamber. Coming after the recent attacks on the Judiciary as being "Enemies of the People" in applying the rule of law to the question of article 50. So in the space of a few months, two pillars of our society have been attacked by the press for frustrating the people's will rather than just accepting it and ignoring the law.

The "Will of the People" is an euphemism for whatever the speaker, usually Nigel, in justifying whatever extreme right wing of racist policy he is peddling that particular day. I will spell this out nice and simple for Nigel and all the other Brexiteers, the referendum was advisory. The Government could have made the result mandatory, but chose not to. Secondly, only 37% actually voted for it, 63% did not. And finally they need to realise or admit that both sides will want something out of the negotiations, not just Britain, and that without giving something we will not get anything back.

Finally, the nuclear situation, is in March 2019, not deal in place and Britain crashing out of the EU with chaos reigning, and falling back onto WTO schedules, if they can be agreed. That the EU has not agreed on schedule for nearly 15 years means that even if Britain getting the same terms as it does currently, means working out what terms the EU is on, what percentage of those terms applies to Britain and then getting all other 161 countries to agree on that.

Probably the most amazing thing is that the Government, and most of the 4th estate, are willing to start a process they have no idea whether they can stop or not. Or how mediation will take place in case of a chaotic exit. Madness with bells on it.

Finally, David Davis admitted today, that mass immigration by EU workers will have to continue after any Brexit, simply because areas like agriculture, the NHS and care homes rely so heavily on unskilled labour from abroad. So another lie of the Brexiteers comes crashing down, no restricting immigration, no £450 million a week for the NHS on top of leaving the Single Market and other European institutions that were not mentioned on the ballot.

We have to hope that the House of Lords this month does the job of the opposition and insert clauses ensuring that cecks and balances are put in, and maybe the oportunity for Parliament itself to reject the final deal, and make the Government and the 2 year timeframe start again.