THE allowance for attending the House of Lords is to be increased to £323 a day. This is absolutely shocking when most of us pensioners are getting about £180 a week.

What makes it even more shocking is the fact they pay no tax or National Insurance on roughly £50,000 a year they pick up if they attend each day of sitting. Why are they given exemption from paying into the system when everyone else has to?

Where is the fairness in this? The politicians keep telling us we are in it together – the Lords are definitely not.

We can’t stop them from getting this outrageous allowance but make them pay tax and National Insurance like everybody else.

Dave Bowes, West Auckland.