To fire life peers would take an Act of Parliament, that's why they retain their titles.

The House of Lords is not a law making body but serves to moderate, to make the House of Commons look again at proposed legislation and so they can be overruled if it comes to the crunch.

The problem with replacing them with elected representatives is it could give them more power and hold out the prospect of a clash between Lords and Commons.

If anyone had been able to come up with a better system they would have gone long ago.

There may be cheats but it matters not that they are in the House of Lords, the Commons or the next door neighbour pulling the same stunt where they work and I've seen that in practice, a cheat is a cheat.