As for the House of Lords, I remember times when they were providing the only effective resistance to some of Thatcherisms excesses. I agree its an old system, but would a fully elected chamber necessarily be any better?

as for the idea that simple majority voting will never change anything, it's changed things before, it all depends on the qualities of the candidates and memebers raised by the individual parties.

the idea that its all still 1890, thats not true, it's more stuck in an idea of the 1930's, but only an upper middle class vision of what the 1930's were actually like, not the experience of the actual 1930's for the majority.

Life should consist in at least fifty percent pure waste of time, and the rest doing what you please.