Lord Malloch Brown calls it a day - reminding us why a cabinet stuffed with Peers needs better scrutiny

It has been announced that Lord Malloch Brown, the spokesman in the Lords for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, will be standing down at the end of the Parliamentary session later this month. Actually, most neutral commentators would probably agree that he was exceptionally well qualified to hold his portfolio, and I tend to share that view. His departure will certainly reduce the size and depth of the talent pool on the Labour side of the red benches.

However, it highlights one of the rather less attractive aspects of Gordon Brown's premiership - his habit of recruiting people into government to fill specific roles and bypassing the democratic process by giving them a peerage at the same time. Lord Carter of Barnes and Lord (Digby) Jones of Birmingham have come, caused controversy, and gone, in Digby's case not even hanging around on the Labour benches but moving to the crossbenches (there's gratitude for you...). What ambitious Labour backbenchers make of it all is not recorded, although it seems a long way removed from the 1997 manifesto and its promise of reform of the House of Lords.

It matters because the increasing number of government big hitters in the Lords has yet to be reflected in terms of the coverage of its activities by the national media. A lack of coverage implies a loss of information for the public and, whilst you could read Hansard, most people don't. In the Commons, full time politicians, with researchers and a salary are there to hold ministers to account. In the Lords, unpaid, predominantly part-timers with an average age of 68 and little or no backup are tasked with the job. Yes, there is plenty of experience and knowledge - I'd back Lord Avebury on our benches to hold Lord Malloch Brown to account any time - but the ability to really dig is limited.

It is, I believe, time that we sought to address this potential democratic deficit. If Labour are intent on placing Cabinet members in the Lords, then additional Cranborne money (scroll to bottom of link) should be made available to the opposition frontbenches to ensure proper scrutiny. It's also high time that we started lobbying the media to cover the Lords more effectively. After all, it is our country that they're running...