My lords, ladies and gentlemen - that is how the British prime minister described the European Union at the Lord Mayor's Banquet tonight.

BBC: David Cameron's carefully worded Europe speech

So my guess is that if there is no Lords Reform Bill in May, peers will have seen off yet another attempt to replace them with an elected house.

BBC: An uncertain future for Mr Clegg's reforms

Whatever my feelings on the matter, reform of the Lords is effectively over and now is a good time to manage that handover.

BBC: Lord Strathclyde resigns from cabinet

I'm not entirely convinced - my guess would be next Tuesday will find MPs debating Lords amendments to some bill or other.

BBC: How the Houses stand

"The reality is that the Finucane family were an IRA family and I can illustrate that by saying that, when I gave that allegation publicly and was being sued for libel, the family retracted and paid my legal expenses, " he told the House of Lords.

BBC: Pat Finucane murder: 'Shocking state collusion', says PM

My point is that, between them, these peers can raise up a formidable alliance in the Lords, capable of re-writing and toughening up any financial services regulation the Chancellor puts forward - crossbenchers, bishops, Labour, Lib Dems and at least a substantial minority of Tory peers.

BBC: Week ahead in committees