Very senior Lords have been heaping praise on the upper house’s new digital voting system – “PeerHub” – even suggesting they may keep the system in place once the pandemic is over, so elderly peers no longer have to spend hours in the palace waiting for votes that sometimes don’t happen, and queuing for when divisions are called. It could put London’s premier retirement home technological light years ahead of the Commons…

Since electronic voting was introduced, Lords have been voting in record numbers from the comfort of their own home(s) – and getting £162 per click. Voting records consistently show turnouts of around 500 peers voting on each bill. The chamber, however, has 775 members…

Despite the convenience of online voting, well over 200 members-per-vote are still refusing to do the job they were appointed to do. Almost everyone in British politics accepts the need for a massive slimming down of the Lords; Guido recommends the Government begins by visiting the Lords Votes website and begins the cull with absent names from there…