Led By Donkeys: The House of Lords

Jan 25, 2024 | Truss and Johnson’s resignation honours were a disgrace. It’s time to reform the House of Lords. Narration by Carol Vorderman

Former Boris Johnson Aide Joins Lords as Youngest Ever Life Peer

THE GUARDIAN: Charlotte Owen, 30, has faced criticism over lack of experience after being nominated by former PM


Charlotte Owen, a former aide to Boris Johnson, has taken her seat as the youngest ever life peer in the House of Lords, despite criticism over her lack of professional experience. The 30-year-old became Baroness Owen of Alderley Edge after being formally introduced to the upper chamber on Monday afternoon.

Johnson nominated seven of his close allies to the Lords as part of his controversial resignation honours list, of which Owen was one of the last to take her seat.

Three of those nominated were in their 30s, including Ross Kempsell, a 31-year-old former journalist, and Ben Houchen, the 36-year-old Tees Valley mayor. » | Kiran Stacey, Political correspondent | Monday, July 24, 2023

What a joke! What a sick joke! The Tories have turned politics in this country into a farce – a sick farce!

One can only wonder why such a young, inexperienced lady has been made a baroness.

This sort of thing only demeans the honours list altogether. I suppose that the market-friendly Tories will surely get the idea to start flogging life peerages in supermarkets soon as a part of their privatization programme.

One can but shake one’s head! – © Mark Alexander

Charlotte Owen, Baroness Owen of Alderley Edge.

Keir Starmer: I Will Abolish House of Lords to ‘Restore Trust in Politics’

THE GUARDIAN: Exclusive: Labour leader plans a new elected chamber after accusing successive Tory governments of handing peerages to ‘lackeys and donors’

Labour would remove politicians’ powers to make appointments to the Lords in its first term.Photograph: Arthur Edwards/The Sun/PA
Keir Starmer will abolish the House of Lords and replace it with a new elected chamber as part of plans to “restore trust in politics”, the Observer understands.

In a sweeping constitutional overhaul, the Labour leader has told the party’s peers that he wants to strip politicians of the power to make appointments to the Lords as part of the first-term programme of a Labour government. Starmer said that the public’s faith in the political system had been undermined by successive Tory leaders handing peerages to “lackeys and donors”.

It is understood that Labour will hold a consultation on the composition and size of a new chamber as well as immediate reforms to the current appointments process. Final proposals will be included in the party’s next election manifesto.

It comes after a series of rows over peerages. Boris Johnson made a number of controversial appointments, including his friend Evgeny Lebedev, who owns the Evening Standard. He is expected to appoint political allies and junior aides as part of a forthcoming list. » | Michael Savage, Policy editor | Saturday, November 19, 2022

Our French friends and neighbours got it right way back in 1789! What do we need people to lord it over us for anyway? In the eyes of God, we are all born equal. Liberté!. Égalité! Fraternité! – Mark

Labour May Abolish House of Lords If It Wins Next Election, Leaked Report Reveals

THE GUARDIAN: Exclusive: Constitutional review by Gordon Brown also recommends devolving economic powers

Gordon Brown was commissioned to undertake the constitutional review by the Labour leader, Keir Starmer. Photograph: Russell Cheyne/Reuters
Labour is considering abolishing the House of Lords and replacing it with an upper house of nations and regions, as well as handing sweeping new powers to local regions and devolved nations, a leaked report has revealed.

The constitutional review by the former prime minister Gordon Brown, which has been seen by MPs and shadow cabinet ministers, recommends devolving new economic powers, including over taxation, and creating new independent councils of the nations and for England.

The review, seen by the Guardian, recommends: » | Jessica Elgot Chief political correspondent | Thursday, September 22, 2022

Boris Johnson’s CORRUPT Plan to Pack Lords

MPs to Question Chair of Appointments Panel over Evgeny Lebedev Peerage

THE GUARDIAN: Committee summons Paul Bew to give evidence on No 10’s role in Standard owner’s elevation to Lords

Evgeny Lebedev and his father have owned the Evening Standard since 2009. Photograph: Neil Hall/Reuters
The chair of the commission that advised on the appointment of the Evening Standard owner Evgeny Lebedev to the House of Lords has been summoned to give evidence to MPs when parliament returns next week.

Paul Bew, an Irish historian, will appear before parliament’s public administration committee on Wednesday to answer what its chair described as “very serious questions” about Downing’s Street’s role in the appointment.

“We will be holding an evidence session on the role of the House of Lords appointments commission with Lord Bew,” the committee’s Conservative chair, William Wragg, said in a letter to the Labour deputy leader, Angela Rayner. He said members would raise some of the issues regarding Lebedev’s elevation in the session.

Controversy has surrounded Lebedev’s peerage after it emerged that the commission expressed concerns about his elevation to the Lords and asked Downing Street to reconsider in March 2020, after advice from Britain’s spy agencies. The appointment went through only after it was resubmitted amid pressure from Downing Street. » | Dan Sabbagh | Wednesday, April 13, 2022

Heftige Kritik aus dem House of Lords an Johnsons Polizeigesetz

BRITISCHES OBERHAUS
FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG: Mit einer Gesetzesreform will die britische Regierung das Versammlungsrecht ändern. Es ist nur eine von mehreren Maßnahmen, die Kritiker der Regierung als Frontalangriff auf Demokratie und Gewaltenteilung verurteilen. Der Widerstand dagegen wächst.

Autoritär, reaktionär, repressiv: Die Kritik an möglichen Einschränkungen der Demonstrationsfreiheit durch das geplante britische Polizeigesetz im Oberhaus hätte kaum beißender sein können. Die Mitglieder im House of Lords fügten der Regierung von Premierminister Boris Johnson in der Nacht zum Dienstag eine Abstimmungsniederlage nach der anderen zu.

Mit großer Mehrheit lehnten die Lords mehrere Paragrafen im Entwurf des geplanten neuen Polizeigesetzes ab. Darin waren beispielsweise erhebliche Einschränkungen von Protesten vorgesehen, wenn diese nach Ansicht der Polizei eine Lärmbelästigung darstellen oder Verkehrswege blockieren. „Menschenrechte ernsthaft infrage gestellt“ » | Quelle: dpa | Dienstag, 18. Januar 2022

Tory Donor Made Life Peer and Appointed as Government Minister

THE GUARDIAN: Malcolm Offord, who has donated almost £150,000 to the Conservatives, sent to the Lords and becomes minister in Scotland Office

Malcolm Offord is the Founder and Chairman of Badenoch & Co. Photograph: Badenoch & Co
A financier who has donated almost £150,000 to the Conservatives has been made a life peer and given a ministerial job, Downing Street has announced.

Malcolm Offord, founder and chair of an Edinburgh-based “boutique investment” company, Badenoch and Co, will be made a life peer, a statement said, and become a junior minister in the Scotland Office.

Offord was a candidate for the Conservatives in May’s Scottish parliamentary election, a decision that prompted accusations of cronyism given that he had donated £147,500 to the party. Offord stood as a list candidate in the Lothian region, but was not elected.

He is the latest Conservative donor or associate to be sent to the Lords under Boris Johnson. In December last year, of 54 people ennobled by Johnson, 13 had either funded the Tories or had an employment or personal connection to Johnson. » | Peter Walker | Thursday, September 30, 2021

Death Threats Issued as Sharia Watch Launches in London

VOICE OF RUSSIA: A new group has been launched at the House of Lords to campaign for greater recognition of the threat posed by Islamic Sharia law. Sharia Watch UK says it wants to highlight the impact of Islamism in Britain and campaign against the prevalence of Sharia tribunals, particularly where it relates to women's rights. VoR's Tim Ecott spoke to Anne Marie Waters, spokesperson for Sharia Watch, and to Aina Khan, a solicitor in London who specialises in applying Sharia law within the English legal system. (+ video) » | VoR | Thursday, April 24, 2014

HT: regkeane »

Gay Marriage Clears the House of Lords

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Gay marriage is set to become law after clearing the House of Lords.

The Queen is expected to be asked to give her approval to the Bill – one of the most radical pieces of social legislation of her reign – by the end of this week.

It opens the way for the first legally recognised same-sex weddings to take place in England and Wales by next summer and brings the centuries-old understanding of marriage as being solely between a man and a woman to an end.

Peers gave their assent to the third reading of the Government’s same-sex marriage bill without a formal vote after a short debate in the Lords, also backing plans for a review of pension arrangements for gay couples.

Unless MPs object to the bill at the eleventh hour during a short Commons debate set to take place on Tuesday, it is expected to receive royal assent within days.

Baroness Stowell, the Government spokesman who steered the bill through the Lords, told a chamber packed with peers wearing pink carnations, that it was an “historic” achievement. Read on and comment » | John Bingham, Social Affairs Editor | Monday, July 15, 2013

Gay Marriage Bill: Peers Back Government Plans
BBC: Peers have voted by more than two to one to back government plans for same-sex marriages in England and Wales.


The House of Lords spent two days debating the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill, with many members voicing their concerns.

But it rejected an amendment aimed at wrecking the bill by 242 votes, moving it a step closer to becoming law.

The BBC's Norman Smith said plans were on course for the first same-sex weddings to take place next summer.

The bill would allow couples, who can currently form civil partnerships, to marry.

If it passes into law, religious organisations would have to "opt in" if they wished to offer gay weddings, except the Church of England and Church in Wales, which would be banned in law from doing so. » | Tuesday, June 04, 2013


Related »

Peers Vote Convincingly FOR Same-sex Marriage Bill
THE INDEPENDENT: Plans to legalise gay marriage cleared their crucial hurdle in the House of Lords tonight when peers rejected a move to “kill the Bill” which will implement the move.

The first gay weddings are expected in July of next year after the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill survived an attempt to wreck it following a heated two-day debate in the Lords. A wrecking amendment was defeated by 390 votes to 148 and the measure was then given a second reading.

Opponents of the move will table amendments during the Bill's committee stage in the Lords, in the hope of winning further safeguards for churches and public servants such as teachers and registrars who oppose same-sex marriage. But tonight's big majority will reduce the prospects of them succeeding and jubilant supporters hope the Bill will now survive largely intact.

Lord Alli of Norbury, a gay Labour peer, welcomed “a stunning victory for equality”. He said: “There can be no doubt that the public, the House of Commons and now the House of Lords are in favour of marriage equality. Those opposed to this Bill should listen to the overwhelming voice of the majority, not just in both Houses of Parliament, but across the country.”

Ben Summerskill, chief executive of the gay equality pressure group Stonewall, said: “We're absolutely delighted. We always expected a tough challenge in the House of Lords.” He said the rarely-used “fatal motion” tabled by opponents showed the lengths to which a minority of peers were still prepared to go to deny full equality to lesbian, gay and bisexual people. He added: “In the last 24 hours alone, opponents of equality in the Lords have compared loving, committed relationships to incest and polygamy. Britain's 3.7m gay people don't deserve to be second class citizens in their own country.” » | Andrew Grice | Tuesday, June 04, 2013

Nick Clegg: Chamber Is Affront to Democracy
THE INDEPENDENT: As you read this I am with statesmen and dignitaries from more than 100 countries at the Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development. There are leaders from countries with a wide range of different democratic systems and almost overwhelmingly they are united by one belief: that the people who make the laws should be elected.

It seems bizarre to think that, in Britain in the 21st century, that should still be a controversial statement, and yet the majority of politicians in our own Parliament are not elected. They sit in the House of Lords, a body of appointed politicians that is growing at a startling rate and has no democratic mandate.

The Independent's revelations this week have shone an important light on the sometimes murky world of our second chamber and raised very serious questions. It should be stressed that the vast majority of peers obey the rules and that MPs, still tainted by the expenses scandal, need to be careful judging the behaviour of those in the Lords. But it does provide us with another opportunity to question why we think this is the best way to govern our country.

Lloyd George once described the House of Lords as being "a body of 500 men chosen at random from amongst the unemployed". In the years since he made that remark all that has really changed is the number – we are now pushing nearly 1,000 peers who get £300 tax-free a day just for turning up, more than half from the ranks of retired or failed politicians. For those retired MPs in the Lords, this amounts to a £1m top-up to their pensions. » | Nick Clegg | Thursday, June 21, 2012

Osborne Urges ‘100% Focus’ on Economy after Election Defeats
BBC: George Osborne has said his party will focus on what matters to the public amid criticism from Conservative MPs in the wake of local election defeats.

Some Tories have urged the coalition to drop plans for electing the House of Lords and legalising gay marriage in favour of more populist policies.

The chancellor told the BBC ministers should "focus 100%" on the economy and not get "distracted" by other issues.

But they would still do "socially progressive" things, he insisted.

He was responding to criticism of the coalition's direction and priorities from some Conservative-supporting newspapers and backbench Tory MPs.

On Wednesday, the coalition will outline its agenda for the next year in the Queen's Speech, as it tries to regain the initiative after both the Conservatives and the Lib Dems suffered heavy losses in local elections.

'Change direction'

Many Conservative MPs want ministers to use the occasion to assert more traditional Conservative priorities on issues such as welfare, crime and tax and either delay or abandon proposals to legalise gay marriage and reform the House of Lords, seen predominately as Liberal Democrat ideas.

Mr Osborne told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show that "100% of our efforts need to be directed" at fixing the economy, which is back in recession. » | Sunday, May 06, 2012


Related »

Lords Debate Threatens Decision to Allow Gay Weddings in Churches

THE GUARDIAN: Peers could scupper change to equality bill amid fears churches will face pressure to opt in to the voluntary scheme

Peers opposed to the registration of civil partnerships in religious premises have secured a debate in the House of Lords that could see the provision scrapped altogether, after warnings that churches could face litigation for turning away gay couples.

This month the equalities minister, Lynne Featherstone, said the government was committed to removing the legal barrier to civil partnerships' registration on the religious premises "of those faith groups who choose to allow this to happen", adding it would be a "permissive measure" with "no obligation on faith groups to host civil partnerships". The change to the equality bill, known as the Alli amendment, was passed in March 2010.

But peers, led by Lady O'Cathain, will debate the change on 15 December – 10 days after it comes into effect – in an attempt to scupper it entirely amid continued fears that churches will be under pressure to opt in to the voluntary scheme. If successful it would prevent all religious premises from registering civil partnerships – including those happy to do so. » | Riazat Butt , religious affairs correspondent | Thursday, November 24, 2011

House of Lords Debates – Saudi Arabia (May 20, 2010)
On human rights, freedom of speech, equality, and dignity: Is Saudi Arabia prepared to defend human rights, civil liberties and fight terrorism?



House of Lords Debates – Saudi Arabia







Robert Lacey's website »

WIKI: Robert Lacey »

Dr. Mai Yamani »

WIKI: Dr. Mai Yamani's website »

Taking the ‘Great’ Out of Britain! Plans for Abolition of House of Lords* to Be Unveiled
THE TELEGRAPH: Plans to abolish the House of Lords and replace it with a 300-strong, wholly elected second chamber are to be unveiled by ministers in a key political move ahead of the general election.

New House of Lords is likely to be a more partisan body but with no party in control. Photograph: The Telegraph
Jack Straw, the Justice Secretary, is this weekend consulting cabinet colleagues on a blueprint which would represent the biggest change to the way Britain is governed for several decades.

The proposals, which have been leaked to The Sunday Telegraph and which are expected to be announced soon, would sweep away centuries of tradition and set ministers on a collision course with the current 704-member House of Lords, which is resolutely opposed to having elected members.

Ministers are ready to announce their plans, which follow years of fruitless cross-party discussions and several votes in the House of Commons, in a bid to wrong-foot the Tories with polling day less than two months away.

Labour's plan is to provoke elements inside the Conservative Party to object to the reforms – which would allow it to paint David Cameron as wedded to old ideas of privilege.

The proposed changes also follow various House of Lords-related controversies, including the recent furore over the admission by Lord Ashcroft, the Tory deputy chairman, that he was a "non-dom."

Members of the new-style chamber will have to be both UK residents and domiciled here for tax purposes. >>> Patrick Hennessy, Political Editor | Saturday, March 13, 2010

*If this rotten Labour government thinks it will rid Britain of privilege by abolishing the House of Lords, it had better think again. All that will be achieved is that a group of privileged patricians will be replaced by group of overpaid privileged plebeians. It will achieve nothing except denude Britain of its wonderful heritage and incomparable traditions. – © Mark

Lord Alli: A Victory for Religious Freedom
THE TELEGRAPH: Lord Alli has hit back at criticism from religious leaders over whether gay civil partnership ceremonies should be allowed in churches. Here he lays out his case.

In the House of Lords on Tuesday there was a landmark decision, allowing Civil Partnerships between gay couples to take place in religious buildings.

The debate took place against the background of a growing number of religious denominations such as the Quakers, Liberal Judaism and the Unitarian Church publicly stating that they wanted to host these ceremonies on their premises.

The essence of the debate was whether or not they should be allowed to do it.

There can be no doubting the immense difference that Civil Partnerships have made to British life since the first ceremonies were performed just over four years ago.

People from all walks of life have been able to celebrate as they watched their sons and daughters, their brothers and sisters, their uncles and aunts entering into lasting unions with their partners.

Indeed, it does seem rather strange that the Church of England shouldn’t encourage Civil Partnerships since, as with marriage, they promote stable and committed relationships.

I couldn’t agree more with the 20 bishops and former bishops who wrote to The Times last week, arguing that “to deny people of faith the opportunity of registering the most important promise of their lives in their willing church or synagogue, according to its liturgy, is plainly discriminatory,” and who urged that “every peer who believes in spiritual independence or in non-discrimination” should support the move.

Over 120 peers turned up to listen and take part in the debate, with the resolution ultimately gaining support from all parties. >>> Waheed Alli | Sunday, March 07, 2010

THE GUARDIAN: Lord Waheed Alli >>>

After Tory Leader Reveals His List of Ethnic Candidates, Cameron's Rainbow 1st Eleven
THE MAIL ON SUNDAY: In the latest development in his campaign to show how dramatically the Tories have changed, David Cameron has published the party’s first-ever official list of openly gay MPs.

The Conservatives say they have 20 openly gay candidates standing in the Election. Of those, 11 told party chiefs they were ‘happy’ to be named in the first authorised list of gay Conservative candidates.

It has led some to suggest jokingly that the Tories might change the party’s traditional blue colour to the rainbow flag of the gay movement.

Publication of the list followed a claim by Shadow Minister Nick Herbert that if the Tories win the forthcoming General Election there could be up to 15 openly gay Conservative MPs. That compares to three at present, including Mr Herbert.

The move follows similar increases in the number of Tory women and ethnic minority candidates. It has led to a backlash from some grassroots activists, who claim the changes have been forced on them by Mr Cameron. Others say it has made the Conservative Party look more modern.

In a speech authorised by Mr Cameron, Mr Herbert said the party had ended the domination of ‘male, white, professional, grey-suited and straight’ Tory MPs. >>> Simon Walters and Brendan Carlin | Sunday, March 07, 2010

Dutch MP’s Visit to Show Anti-Islam Film to UK Lawmakers Sparks Outrage

Controversial Dutch MP Geert Wilders Says Islam Is 'Fascist'