The ermine robes

Ah, the House of Lords. Simon Jenkins in The Guardian sums up the choices facing MPs this evening:

Tonight members of the Commons are supposedly voting on how to change this system and, among other things, remove the peerages that have proved so irresistible to men of wealth. Do not hold your breath. MPs are being asked to choose between scheme A, whereby the political establishment chooses lords as now, and scheme B, whereby the political establishment continues to choose lords by deciding who gets on the party list for "election". In a hilarious extension of this Hobson's choice, MPs are even offered a mix of A and B. As the waiter might ask, how much humbug would sir like with his humbug?