Michael Williams, of Laburnam Court, Abbotskerswell, writes:

In response to a View from Westminster on August 31, our MP?Anne Marie Morris asks a question: Does our parliamentary system work? Some would say yes, some would say no.

The real answer is a resounding no. our political system is far from satisfactory – almost 14,000 people in Newton Abbot alone say so.

It is not right to claim the House of Commons would lose its primacy if the Lords were elected and hold the Commons to ransom. They know full well the Commons would evoke the parliamentary act to stop this happening.

Two thirds of the MPs now in power were elected on far less than 50 per cent of their constituency vote and yet are responsible for rejecting Lords reform. They had no majority vote from their constituency, so how's that for democracy?

The House of Lords at present has 818 members (and growing). If they turn up they can claim allowances and £300 a day (£1,500 a week) and pay no income tax.

A man with a family living in Teignbridge would be lucky to have a wage per month as good as that – and he would pay income tax.

The Americans make do with 200 senators, with a population of 160 million. They are far richer than our country. The Liberal Democrats say they will vote against the Bill for boundary changes because the Conservative back benchers did not support Lords reform.

This is just tit for tat; what a way to run our country.

It has taken more than 50 years to start to build just three miles of bypass, and 100 years to reform the Lords and fail.

With our MP claiming no priority for change to our parliamentary system, is she in the wrong job?MORE LETTERS IN OUR DIGITAL EDITION