The House of Lords fulfils a vital constitutional function and are part of the checks and balances that we have.
They do not sit every week of the year and not all members attend every day. That is why a daily allowance is the appropriate manner to remunerate them and it is not a large sum. That £300 is only two hours of my charge-out time, less than that for most solicitors and accountants as well as most IFAs. True they do not have the massive regulatory costs and other business expenses we carry but even allowing for that it remains a modest figure for an important job.
Consider Gordon Brown, he is paid a base salary of £65,000 as an MP plus expenses. In the 12 month period after the May 2010 General Election he:
Made one Committee appearance, made one speech, asked 8 parliamentary questions and voted 27 out of 236 times. His daily rate probably works out at over £30,000 not £300.
Just to update that - he is set to make his third Commons appearance since the election. Now that really is a scandal.
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2011/11/24/gordon-brown-rare-commons-speech_n_1112182.html