I AGREE with Chris Greene’s letter (The Whitehaven News, December 30) about the Prime Minister’s habit of overriding official advice when it comes to putting his mates in the House of Lords.

There is a place for a second chamber to consider legislation calmly and rationally, especially when the Commons has a ruling party with a large majority (back in the 1980s the then foreign secretary Francis Pym referred to this as an “elective dictatorship”, and Mrs Thatcher promptly sacked him for his troubles).

There is also much to be said for people eminent in their fields to be appointed to the second chamber, especially in areas under-represented in the Commons (such as science, the arts, medicine, education and social care).

Perhaps a solution that would create a House of Lords (or a senate, whatever you want to call it) that is fit for purpose is to have half of its members appointed, but only when officially approved by an appropriate panel whose powers should be enshrined in law. The numbers appointed should never exceed the number of vacancies created by peers who have retired or died in the preceding 12 months.

The rest of the house should be elected, perhaps on a county by county basis, based on population. The elections should not coincide with those to the Commons otherwise we might have an upper chamber that is simply an echo of the lower chamber and all kinds of unsuitable laws could be passed on a partisan basis. Maybe elections every eight to 10 years, with peers only able to sit for a maximum of two terms, so that they are not looking over their shoulders hoping for the patronage of the party leaders of the day but can be truly independent.

Cumbria already has a handful of peers, such as Lord Walney in the south, Lords Cunningham and Campbell-Savours and Lady Hayman in the west, and Lords Bragg and Liddle in Wigton. What are their views?

PHIL GARRETT,

Whitehaven

What changed my mind

Mr David Taylor from Westnewton wrote (attacking the nuclear waste disposal “Anti Brigade” who are “trying to frighten people” (The Whitehaven News letters, December 30).

My letters and comments on the subject probably qualify me as one of those “Antis”, despite my 20 years both as BNFL’s works secretary/head of corporate affairs and my work assisting Nirex well before my retirement.

I would make a few comments on Mr Taylor’s assertions plus some of my own.

1. In 2013 the county council cabinet, which had a Conservative majority, voted against my proposal as the then Labour cabinet member for environment, that West Cumbria move to Stage 4 research into the repository project.

2. Mr Taylor’s “cavern” or deep underground workings, are actually expected to be the size of a small city – that is (or should be) uncontested.

3. Those workings, if undersea, could stretch out from the Cumbrian coast up to 22 kilometres. An NDA graphic detailing that was published in The Whitehaven News.

4. I led the county council’s involvement in the “West Cumbria Managing Nuclear Waste Safely Partnership” for some years. After my Cabinet defeat over Stage 4 I felt I had to resign as the member responsible for environmental issues as a matter of principle.

5. That did not mean I was totally supportive of the project, in fact I wanted to use Stage 4 both to discover the truth about the area’s geology and hydrogeology and force the Conservative government into legally-binding commitments over realistic levels of compensation for Cumbria, i.e. at least half a billion pounds, much of it paid in the early years.

One of the major reasons for my failure to persuade Cllr Eddie Martin and others was that few people, even Tory councillors, believed that government would be honest about the science and also give us a fair financial deal.

Subsequent actions by the government and NDA caused my own view to change radically and I accepted that Cllr Martin and others were (and still are) correct in not trusting the basis of the entire Higher Level Nuclear Waste Repository project.

TIM KNOWLES

Frizington

When Dame Sheila met Ike Southward

How wonderful that actress Sheila Hancock has had the honour of damehood conferred – in recognition of her contribution to British theatre and to the world of entertainment in general.

Many remember her Shakespearian performances in Workington with the touring RSC company in the early 1980s. The town, its people and the hospitality she received made such an impression that she said it would remain forever her favourite place – alongside Chichester (home to the famous annual arts festival of which she was often a part).

While she was enjoying Workington, I was privileged (as chief reporter and sports writer with your sister paper the Times & Star) to have an official ear to her memorable visit to Derwent Park to chat up former Whitehaven RL coach Ike Southward, one of Workington Town’s most famous rugby league sons (and sadly no longer with us).

Sheila was intrigued by the sport she had only seen on television and asked a star-struck Ike to interrupt his groundsman’s duties to explain the game to her and in particular the part of proceedings where play would stop and the players from both sides would hug each other and put their bums in the air. Yes, that’s how she put it.

She was, of course, talking about the era of contested scrummaging (now no longer part of the game) and if the question sounded funny, then Ike’s explanation, in his broad and homely West Cumbrian accent was even more memorable – and left them both in stitches.

Having served club and country as a player (at home and down under in Australia) and club and county as a successful coach, he knew how to explain things to her with a touch of earthy good humour – though whether Sheila Hancock was left any the wiser I’m not sure. A case, I think of As You Like It or perhaps Love’s Labour’s Lost– but a great laugh to all who were there.

PHIL CRAM,

Wigton

Treaty ban

Government websites tell us that “the UK must – and does – act in accordance with the rule of international law”. Strange then that the same Government remains hell bent on ignoring the UN Treaty on the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons which will come into force on Friday 22 January.

From that date, with support from the overwhelming majority of countries, the treaty will define all nuclear weapons as prohibited weapons of mass destruction, just like chemical and biological weapons.

This is surely a crucial issue, not only for the whole world, but also for our local communities. The time is long overdue for the skills of workers at BAE Systems in Barrow to be redirected to socially useful purposes, rather than being squandered on building components for the Trident nuclear weapons system. It is time that our local authorities took action to stop nuclear warheads from being carried along our local roads and motorways. And it is time that our local MPs put pressure on the Government to sign and ratify the Treaty on the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons.

We need to celebrate the coming into force of the Treaty on the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons on 22 January.

PHILIP GILLIGAN

Coordinator, South Lakeland and Lancaster District CND