Tom Richmond: End of the peer show for grasping politicians

All three were sub-standard Cabinet ministers whose political careers should have been ended long before they were forced to resign.

Hewitt was an awful Health Secretary; Hoon left our soldiers ill-equipped to fight the Iraq War and aides to Byers thought the 9/11 atrocity was a good day to bury bad news. Yet the elevated status of this triumvirate mean that they all expect to be offered peerages at some stage in the future – another form of cronyism that is proving totally corrosive to Parliament's tarnished reputation.

There are plans, evidently, for Labour to appoint at least 60 peers in the near future – and the Tories will have to eclipse this number if they come to power so David Cameron can command a working majority in the Upper House after the election.

This was highlighted by pompous Tory backbencher Sir John Butterfill who was also implicated in the Dispatches programme. He told a fictional company, set up by Channel Four, that he expected to be sent to the Lords after the election – in return for being one of the four MPs to have persuaded Cameron to stand for the Tory leadership in 2005.

For the record, blundering Butterfill's only lasting legacy is that he was the MP who installed "servants' quarters" at his mansion, a

vignette which emerged during last year's expenses scandal. Yet, if he is to be believed, he will become Lord Butterfill after May 6 because a knighthood is not good enough any more.

Frankly, this whole episode stinks – and there's only one way that it can be sorted out.

Given that all the main parties are committed to Lords reform, there should be a moratorium on the appointment of any new peers until new laws have been passed that make the Upper House more democratic – and more accountable to the people.

Hewitt, Hoon, Byers and Butterfill ill-served the people when they were MPs in the Commons. If they're made peers, it will make it even easier for them to gain access to Ministers – at a rate of 5,000 a day – and influence policy, while only being accountable to their bank balance and their personal conscience (if they have one).

ON the eve of an election, it was inevitable that the Government would send a convoy of gushing Ministers – inevitably at our expense – to Yorkshire to unveil a raft of transport announcements.

Though the schemes in question are long-overdue in Leeds, York and Hull, I'm not yet convinced that the funding will survive the spending squeeze that will inevitably follow the election.

Ministers were also reluctant, I noticed, to explain why rush-hour train services in Manchester and Liverpool are to benefit from extra railway carriages, while this region misses out. As Lib Dem MP Greg Mulholland observed: "The trains serving Leeds city centre are cripplingly over- crowded. When will this Government stop putting Yorkshire last when it comes to transport investment?"

He's right. Ministers may think they've done their job. But they have not. This week's announcement is just a fraction of the amount that needs to be spent on providing this region with a viable road and rail network.

Far from being satisfied, it shows just how far Yorkshire has fallen behind other regions because of decades of under-investment by successive governments.

AFTER the events of the last couple of years, it is fair to say that banks have a difficult road ahead in their attempts to win back customer trust and respect. NatWest has attempted to do this with a series of adverts focusing on staff talking to customers, understanding their needs and generally appearing to be "on your side".

The latest in this series features staff going in to schools to teach them basic financial skills. NatWest, of course, is owned by RBS which is in turn owned by you and me because of its catastrophic

mismanagement. Is this really who we want teaching children about money?

ROTHERHAM MP Denis MacShane made this telling observation the other day about public servants forgoing first class travel perks on the railways.

"I sat next to a major-general from the Irish Guards in a second-class compartment on the train last week. It is a rum show when a major-general from the Irish Guards has to travel on an off-peak cheap-day standard class return ticket to make modest economies for the military," he said.

At least we know that MacShane was travelling cattle class.

I HAD every sympathy with Network Rail over the planned trained strike – until I saw, on Channel Four News, the "bull in a china shop" negotiating skills of its communications supremo PJ Taylor. His

arrogant contempt for concerns over safety is, I'm afraid, playing

into the RMT's hands – and with full justification.

LABOUR and the Tories are clearly leaving nothing to chance in Pudsey. Leaflets from the two parties arrived simultaneously the other morning. They also reveal the party's thinking.

The Tories want to know whether people in this Labour-held seat would prefer David Cameron or Gordon Brown as PM. Yet, for the third time, the Labour candidate fails to namecheck his party's leader in his letter. However, he again highlights Cameron – before claiming that the Lib Dems have no chance. How about some constructive policies, guys?