I was absolutely astounded when I read (News, February 7) that Lord Laird was boasting that he had asked around 15,000 questions in the House of Lords.

He seems to think that this was something to be proud of and said that he had found out "stuff'" by asking these questions.

He further goes on to say that he had asked questions about Hull, which he had no interest in, purely because some lord from Hull had asked questions about Northern Ireland and he had to reciprocate.

What really annoys me is that his reputation for asking the most questions has cost the taxpayer around £2m.

Just think of what this could have been spent on to benefit the community, instead of someone trying to beat all the records - not for the highest number of frivolous questions, but to have cost the taxpayer the greatest amount of badly needed cash in times of austerity.

Two of the examples given are "Who is responsible for security in Lower Chichester Street?" and "Are there any plans to stop cyclists from breaking red lights?"

A simple phonecall could have answered most of his questions and saved a lot of money. It is a pity that peers of the realm are not elected by the electorate, as we would then see what the public thought of such extravagance.

NTC

Dromore, Co Down

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