Enough’s Enough! Time to derail the gravy train!
Almost 200,000 people have signed a Electoral Reform Society petition calling for the unelected House of Lords to be overhauled.
The Prime Minister is set to pack the House of Lords with yet more unelected peers. And discontent is growing.
As the Mirror reported this week, anger is rising at Boris Johnson’s plan to stuff the chamber with appointees.
There is concern across the spectrum. The Conservative-leaning Spectator points out: “It is no credit to British democracy that we have the second largest legislative chamber in the world. The only one larger than the 792-strong House of Lords is the 2,980-member Chinese National People’s Congress.
“In the coming days the House of Lords will grow even bigger as the Prime Minister announces another batch of peerages. We can expect a bad-tempered reaction if, as expected, a slew of Brexit campaigners such as Ian Botham are included while former speaker John Bercow is left out.”
The magazine cites ERS research showing that: “It is genuine participation that matters, and in this some have a lamentable record. The Electoral Reform Society found that in the 2016/17 session, 115 peers failed to speak in a single debate — and yet they claimed £1.3 million in expenses between them.”
Even the Lords themselves are getting restless. The PM’s peers list will reverse years of attempts to check numbers, according to the Lord Speaker, as we revealed this week.
Voters are not happy about the bloated and unelected state of the House of Lords.
Nearly 200,000 have signed a petition calling for an overhaul – for it to be scrapped and replaced with a proportionally-elected second chamber that is fit for purpose: rather than a private member’s club for the PM’s pals.
Sign it here – and let’s get this to 200,000 signatures.
Commenting on the 36 new appointments to the House of Lords, Darren Hughes, Chief Executive of the UK’s leading democracy campaign group the ERS said:
“Based on the average claim of a peer, the 36 new peers are likely to cost around £1.1m a year in expenses from the taxpayer [2].
“By appointing a host of ex-MPs, party loyalists and his own brother, the PM is inviting total derision. That he can get away with it shows what a private member’s club this house is.
“The Lords was already the largest second chamber in the world. There are now over 800 unelected peers, voting on our laws for life.
“Is packing the Lords with party loyalists really a priority, as a pandemic rages across the world? This move is an absolute insult to voters. This is making a mockery of democracy.
“Today marks a nail in the coffin for the idea that the Lords is some kind of independent chamber of experts. It is a house of cronies and party loyalists – we need to see it scrapped and replaced with a fair-elected chamber that’s fit for a democracy.”
Among the new Peers are Theresa May’s husband Philip – for political service (!), Boris Johnson’s brother Joseph and former Tory party leader in Scotland Ruth Davidson.
THE HOUSE of LORDS SPEAKER IS REVOLTING!
Lord Fowler (above, second left) comments following the government’s announcement of 36 new members of the House of Lords on Friday 31 July:
Lord Fowler, the Lord Speaker, said: “This list of new Peers marks a lost opportunity to reduce numbers in the House of Lords. The result will be that the House will soon be nearly 830 strong – almost 200 greater than the House of Commons.
“That is a massive policy u-turn.
It was only two years ago that the then Prime Minister, Mrs May, pledged herself to a policy of “restraint” in the number of new appointments. It was the first time that any Prime Minister had made such a pledge.
“This followed a report by a special Lord Speaker’s committee chaired by Lord (Terry) Burns proposing that numbers should be reduced to 600. This was debated by the Lords itself with over 90 speakers, commanding overwhelming support.
“The big opportunity was for the present Government to take forward this movement for reform. I emphasise that this is not a matter of personalities. It is a question of numbers and the abandonment of an established policy to reduce the size of the House.
“It is also a vast pity that the list has been announced within the first few days of the summer recess when neither House is sitting, and the Government cannot be challenged in Parliament.”
New appointments to the House of Lords
Our noble Lords and Ladies receive ‘allowances’ of £323 PER DAY just for turning up – nice ‘work’ if you can get it!
Even during the pandemic, when the House of Lords isn’t sitting, our hard-working peers are trousering £162 per day when they participate in debates or vote from the comfort of home – no matter how minimal their contribution may be.
By way of comparison, a single person under 25 on Universal Credit will receive a standard payment of £342.72p PER MONTH.
All in this together? Aye, right!
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