For the benefit of our overseas friends who may have little understanding of the differences between the House of Commons and the House of Lords (ie as much as I understand the difference between the US House of Representatives and the Senate), the value of a Lord could be argued to really depend on the Lord in question, as there are two main types. Most Hereditary Peers have the right to sit in the Lords and take part in the decision-making processes which take place there purely as a result of their birth and inheritance of an aristocratic title and they may not necessarily have any skills or knowledge making them suitable for the role. This is a hangover from the days when aristocrats were considered better than commoners, with a god-given right to be in charge; those Lords should be abolished (as should all aristocratic titles, the aristocracy and the entire class structure, of course.

Life Peers are different and are often people of very great expertise who have had distinguished careers in their chosen field; they are given a non-hereditary title which affords them the right to sit in the Lords and, using their knowledge and experience they form advisory groups, largely populated by others with expertise in that subject rather than by toadies picked out by a party leader, and through them influence other Lords and the Members of Parliament in the House of Commons. In extreme cases, when the Commons has decided something especially ill-advised or blatantly stupid - whilst many of us don't much like the idea of being represented by people we haven't voted for, there's a lot to be said for giving people who actually know what they're talking about a lot of say in any decision rather than leaving it up to people who are merely good at winning electoral popularity contents.

Incidentally, whilst a commoner who has sat in the House of Commons can be awarded a title permitting them to sit in the Lords, a Hereditary Peer cannot sit in the Commons unless he or she gives up his/her title. One notable example of this wasthe 2nd Viscount Stansgate Anthony Wedgewood Benn - the man who launched the campaign that made it possible for Hereditary Peers to do this, then gave up his own title and served in the House of Commons as a very popular socialist Member of Parliament for almost forty years.

@Jnei And I have an exam on this subject on Wednesday! Oh the pain...

@Sofabeast Make sure to mention the ancient carved woodwork in the Lords, and how it can be difficult to tell the difference between the woodwork and some of the actual lords - that ought to win you a couple of points.

@Jnei Hahahaha… one day I should go and take a look. Shame I had to get back north after the funeral for the exam, otherwise I'd have popped along to parliament. I made quite a case in favour of the Lords, I was in that sort of mood.

Brexit had us speechless over here too. Never have a referendum unless you're sure of the outcome or it simply doesn't matter

@MsDemeanour Agreed! It was an unnecessary referendum.....! I’m still hoping for another one to cancel it out!

@MsDemeanour they got the outcome they wanted convinced enough idiots now they are just taking in teh money and putting it offshore so they don't have to pay taxes

@Marionville