By Record View
Copyright dailyrecord
The House of Lords is a relic of Britain’s feudal past and should have been abolished years ago. No right-thinking person would ever claim some chinless aristocrat should have the right to legislate on the laws of the land simply because a distant ancestor was made a duke centuries ago. But if Westminster’s dismal second chamber must persist, it should at the very least be made up of peers who have been appointed by parties on the back of their distinguished record of public service. That’s not something anyone would ever accuse Michelle Mone of. The businesswoman was undoubtedly skilled at promoting her lingerie company in the 2000s. Why David Cameron decided to make her a Tory peer in 2015, few people understood even at the time. But now that PPE Medpro – a firm she was the public face of, at least in the eyes of the UK Government – has been found to have ripped off the taxpayer during a public health emergency , she must lose her peerage immediately. Mone and her charmless billionaire husband Doug Barrowman have bleated they did nothing wrong. But the courts view it differently and now PPE Medpro must find almost £122million to refund the taxpayer. There must be no ifs and no buts on this issue. Michelle Mone is not fit to be a legislator , even by the low standards of the House of Lords. Her company must pay back the taxpayer – and promptly. And David Cameron should reflect on why she was ever made a peer in the first place. The SNP government is never shy at telling local authorities what to do when it comes to the council tax. For years, Nationalist ministers dictated to struggling town halls that they must freeze rates. But when it comes to mobile phones in schools , the Nats suddenly become firm defenders of councils being left to do what they think is best. Most parents can see smartphones have no place in classrooms. They are a -distraction at best. And they are too often used to facilitate bullying . Labour is right to say there must be a nationwide ban on mobiles in classrooms. The SNP, meanwhile, hides behind the fact that it’s up to local authorities to run schools. Jenny Gilruth , the Education Secretary, claims she is listening to teachers on the troublesome subject. Maybe she should instead listen to the countless pupils who have been humiliated by school bullies filming them with phones. Ban them from classrooms now.
