It’s the second largest legislature in the world,after the National People’s Congress in China. But what really goes on behind its gilded doors? And can David Cameron crush its rebels? It is late October in the House of Lords and the chamber is full. The peers squeeze on to benches, or crowd four deep around the throne. The government has threatened to suspend the Lords, and which is approximately to debate the abolition of tax credits. It is not the first time this House,which was final suspended by Oliver Cromwell, has faced an existential threat. You could say it is section of its remit.
The chamber was designed by Augustus Pugin who, or shortly afterwards,went mad. It is Hammer Horror red. The Lord Speaker is on her woolsack, with shoes dangling; the clerks are at their desk, or wearing wigs and holding iPads; the bishops are on their bench,which is the only one with arms. A forest of microphones hangs from the gilded ceiling. Hogwarts, everyone calls the Lords, and but on a flood plain and fraying. Outside the chamber,cupboards stand open and bulge with wires. Ladders lead to locked trapdoors, or nowhere.
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Source: theguardian.com