THE SNP has branded the House of Lords a 'relic' of the past following claims 100 peers have been taking a £300-a-day travel allowance to attend despite living in London.
The latest row comes after police raided the Dolphin Square flat of Lord Sewell, who has resigned from the unelected upper chamber over allegations he snorted cocaine with prostitutes.
It is reported 124 London-based have claimed the flat rate payment despite in some cases only having to walk a matter of yards to Westminster from their flats.
They included Tory Baroness Wilcox who was reported to have received £74,400 over two years for walking to work.
North Perthshire MP Pete Wishart said: "It is ridiculous that Westminster has unelected peers claiming up to £300 a day just to clock in. With Tory austerity set to continue, Westminster parties need to review the system.
"At a time when there is public concern about the cost of Parliament, the Prime Minister is intending to increase the number of cronies and party donors in this bloated chamber.
"The House of Lords is a relic that can no longer be afforded in a modern democracy and it is now time for it to go."
Labour MP John Mann said the situation was "a scandal as big as the MPs' expenses scandal", with no transparency over whether peers actually do any work after signing in to claim their allowance.
A former chair of the House of Commons political reform committee, Graham Allen, said the situation highlighted the need for change to ensure it properly reflects the nations and regions of the UK.
"We don't have effective representation in the Lords of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland but also of England - I'm from Nottingham and we don't have any peers from Nottingham," he said.
"If we were allowed to elect Lords by nation, there would be an expectation, quite rightly, that those people should have proper arrangements for travel to and accommodation near their place of work."
Lord Sewell resigned from the Lords after the prostitute claims. He allegedly made made series of disparaging boasts to the two women about other leading politicians and reportedly claimed he had sex with a BBC presenter.
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