Lords join Twitter revolution
By Phil ScullionFollow @PhilScullion
Peers are to interact with the public through social media after a Twitter feed was set up for the second chamber.
The service has attracted over 1,300 followers since its launch on the 5th of September.
Lords staff will produce the feed, which is designed to provide information about how the House of Lords is carrying out its task of scrutinising and challenging the UK government.
Baroness D'Souza, new speaker of the House, launched the service and called for the public to use it to join in the debate on issues.
She said: "I hope you will join us @UKHouseofLords and let us know what you think. My hope is that over time @UKHouseofLords will become a really valuable way for us to speak with you, the public on whose behalf we work, directly.
"We have a reputation for leading the way in opening our work to the public, from being the first second chamber to be televised back in 1985 to becoming the first and only upper chamber in the world to have a cross-party blog."
Previously House of Lords business had been tweeted by @UKParliament, which has almost 50,000 followers.
The first tweet from @UKHouseofLords read: "We're back at work and tweeting. Watch live from 2.30pm as new Lord Speaker presides over Lords business for 1st time http://bit.ly/oZOGaz".
