General Chat

And how much would it cost in salaries if we had an elected upper house?

An MP currently earns just under £75,000 per year which compares well to a London tube driver who earns between £50,000 and £60,000. A elected 'senator' or whatever you might want to call them would probably expect to be paid more.

No, the current system is far cheaper - one of the reasons it is unlikely to change in the foreseeable.

I can see the reasons for wanting an elected upper house but I wonder how the election would be run. If it is run, like the Commons vote, on party lines, then someone who votes for, say, a Labour member of the Commons is also likely to vote for a Labour member of the upper house. The upper house would then be a replica of the lower house and there would be little point to it.

It doesn't always work like that Vera. I don't always vote for the same party in General, Local, and EU elections. I still think the hereditary system worked well enough. As it is, parties can swamp the Lords with placemen of their own choosing.

Far rather that they are appointed for services to charity or a political party than to just be born in the right bed.

'Democracy is a method of handling differences without bloodshed'.

100 years ago the army of a democratic country was sorting out its differences on the streets of Dublin. Recently same thing with the army of another democratic country on the bridges of Istanbul.
Sure.

If you are referring to Turkey - Ergodan was/is hardly a democratic leader!

Erdogan won a free and fair election and would win a another.
Brown?
May?
LBJ?

He won a 'free and fair' election ?
I posted something similar on another post:

The election was criticised by both the political opposition and international observers for alleged media bias in favour of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, corruption allegations, the inaccuracy of opinion polls and the misuse of official public resources during Erdogan's campaign.While praising the authorities for safeguarding the right to assembly as well as the peaceful electoral conduct, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) voiced concerns over the unequal distribution of campaign resources and media intimidation.

So that's a 'free and fair' election is it?

He 'would win another' - that's because if anyone criticises him (at the moment) they'd be arrested or dismissed from their jobs.

The Independent, on Sunday, quotes 2700 Judges removed from their posts. Are they really all suspected to have been involved, or could the majority have interpreted the Law to the detriment of Erdogan's aims of an Islamic state?

Atatürk would be turning in his grave.

There is no way that tens of thousands were involved in the attempted coup.
But unfortunately it gave Erdogan the excuse to instigate a purge of all opposition.
What you have now is effectively a one party state with a particular religious leaning.

There's something odd about this coup ! The fact that it was so badly managed, so conveniently timed, put down so easily, and of course a perfect excuse for a purge! I'm not saying it was contrived, but it does make you wonder?!!

Everything will be fine when the are admitted to the EU!

You say that as though it's likely to happen. It isn't.