House of Lords

TIM WALKER on frustrations in the House of Lords, Boris Johnson’s messy office and the latest Gina Miller pile-on. As the nation learns of Boris Johnson‘s New Year’s honours list, spare a thought for Norman Fowler – the Lord Speaker – who not so long ago set up the Burns committee to reduce the number of members of the […]

A column by Boris Johnson accusing Labour of the “putrefaction of the honours system” has re-emerged hours after he ennobled a former Tory donor against the advice of the peerage watchdog. Peter Cruddas was one of 16 new peers appointed by Downing Street on Monday in an announcement that was slipped out after MPs had returned home for Christmas. […]

Boris Johnson has overruled the peerage watchdog to make former Tory treasurer Peter Cruddas a life peer. The move went against the advice of the House of Lords Appointments Committee. A statement posted on the gov.uk website said: “The House of Lords Appointments Commission was invited by the prime minister to undertake vetting of all party […]

A quip from rugby union legend and sports pundit Brian Moore has perfectly sums up the cronyism over Brexit. The Remain-voting former English rugby union footballer expressed regret for voting against Brexit – because of the number of opportunities offered by the government to those that backed Leave. His comments come as more peerages were […]

The government has reportedly planned to recall MPs to the House of Commons next week to vote on a possible deal between Westminster and Brussels over Brexit. MPs must be given at least 48 hours notice before returning to parliament, with the government unlikely to recall politicians over the festive period, even if a deal […]

Emergency stop-gap Brexit legislation is set to be rushed through the House of Lords in a day to ensure the UK is ready for its final departure from the EU at the end of the year. The “panic stations” bill has led to accusations of “chaos” being levelled at the government. The criticism came as […]

A former treasurer of the Conservative Party has taken his seat in the House of Lords. Michael Spencer, who is chairman of the right-leaning think tank the Centre for Policy Studies, was nominated to the unelected house by Boris Johnson. The 65-year-old Oxford graduate was among the intake of new peers to the upper house, […]

The government has been defeated in the Lords over giving parliament a bigger say in the approval of post-Brexit trade agreements. Peers backed by 308 votes to 261, majority 47, a cross-party amendment to the Trade Bill calling for greater accountability and transparency of deals. The legislation will enable the UK to forge new commercial […]

Chris Philp has refused to rule out the Home Office using a “giant wave machine” to deter migrant crossings in the English Channel. Philp told the Commons home affairs committee that ministers had not counted out sending asylum seekers to Ascension Island or to disused oil platforms as their claims were processed. Philp came under pressure to deny reports that the […]

ANDREW ADONIS ranks the (sometimes surprising) names who changed British history for better or worse. My top 20 shapers of modern Britain includes those who made things much worse – the top spot goes to the politician who made things worst of all, although he wasn’t a bad man – as well as those who […]

A former Brexit Party MEP claimed she is a “proud European” as she rejected the need for a trade deal with the EU. Claire Fox, who was promoted to the House of Lords by Boris Johnson earlier this year, said she was “an enthusiast about the European continent” as she fobbed off the importance of clinching […]

Boris Johnson’s efforts to buy essential kits for the coronavirus outbreak has been likened to panic buyers trying to get their hands on loo rolls. Former military top brass Lord West of Spithead claimed he understood such behaviour could be excused for those who were “ill-informed and not well educated”, but it was not acceptable for a […]

Boris Johnson’s Brexit bill has been heavily defeated again in a House of Lords. Peers voted 367 to 209 for a cross-party amendment that would prevent Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland for being “bypassed” once the UK’s Brexit transition period ended on December 31. The result is deemed one of the biggest Lords defeats in history. […]

A former Labour frontbencher used his maiden speech in the House of Lords to express his pride at having helped to stop Jeremy Corbyn win the general election. John Woodcock, who sits as Lord Walney in the upper chamber, also revealed his criticism of the ex-party leader, had strained long-term friendships and also led to […]

Brexiteer Kate Hoey has claimed that opponents of Boris Johnson’s Internal Market bill – which would override international law – are stabbing “in the back of the people of Northern Ireland”. The former Labour MP urged peers to ignore the comments of president-elect Joe Biden, claiming the original Brexit deal has “sold out” the people […]

Ken Clarke has attacked the government for behaving like a “third-world dictatorship” with the Internal Market Bill, claiming what it was asking politicians to do was “ridiculous and deeply damaging to the reputation of the country”. The former Tory minister said that Boris Johnson’s Brexit bill was “inferior” in comparison to the three attempts Theresa […]

Former Brexit Party MEP Claire Fox has delivered a speech in the House of Lords attacking opponents of Boris Johnson’s law-breaking Brexit bill, before voting against it herself. By a significant margin, peers voted against the legislation which has powers to enable ministers to override international law. And the Baroness of Buckley was one of […]

Key parts of Boris Johnson’s controversial Brexit legislation have been defeated by the Lords by a huge margin. Peers moved to strip controversial clauses from the UK Internal Market Bill that would enable ministers to break international laws. The Lords voted 433 to 165, a government defeat of 268, to reject law-breaking powers after fierce criticism […]

A former Tory leader has led the calls for the government to “think again” over its controversial Brexit legislation as the peers plan to strip out powers that enable ministers to break international law. Brexiteer Lord Howard of Lympne is one of the rebels planning to remove the contentious parts of the UK Internal Market Bill, […]

Opposition peers have accepted government assurances over post-Brexit food standards after MPs continued to overturn their amendments to the Agriculture Bill. Ministers have pledged to offer increased parliamentary scrutiny of free trade agreements to ensure consistency of standards on human health, animal welfare and the environment. The Trade and Agriculture Commission, which represents UK farmers, retailers and consumers, […]

Lord Kilclooney has been criticised for describing US vice president-elect Kamala Harris solely as “the Indian”. The former Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) deputy leader was ordered to apologise and retract his tweet about Harris, who is the first black and Asian-American person to be elected to the role. The crossbench peer, who previously deleted a tweet […]

Boris Johnson will not back down over the Internal Market Bill, despite it threatening to create early tensions with US president-elect Joe Biden, a cabinet minister has claimed. Environment secretary George Eustice said the government would reinstate controversial clauses that enable ministers to break international laws if Lords try to strip them out. Biden warned […]

The UK is on the verge of becoming a “broken kingdom”, a senior Tory has warned in the House of Lords. Lord Cormack said the government underestimated “at its own potential peril, just what dangers surround us” post-Brexit. He said the Westminster parliament could not behave as if it was the only legislative body in […]

A business minister has sparked concerns about pig semen after his comments on post-Brexit border checks within the UK. Conservative frontbencher Lord Callanan was replying to a question from Labour’s Lord Rooker about how measures in the government’s Brexit legislation would affect pig semen imports, telling the Lords: “I was slightly struggling to understand the relevance […]

A peer told of the “mounting panic” his family had faced ahead of school holidays when he was a child as he shared his experiences of receiving free meals, as he slammed the “Etonians” in parliament who would not recognise that feeling. Labour’s Lord Griffiths of Burry Port told the House of Lords: “I was […]

Powers enabling ministers to break international law could be stripped from controversial Brexit legislation by peers within days. The UK Internal Market Bill is undergoing detailed line-by-line scrutiny in the House of Lords, and is currently scheduled for four days of consideration at committee stage. The legislation sets out the way that trade within the […]

A Eurosceptic MP has said Boris Johnson should consider cutting ties with the Church of England after his Brexit bill was heavily criticised by senior figures of the church. Former European Research Group chair Steve Baker said the prime minister should think about “paving a motion on the disestablishment of the Church of England” following opposition […]

Former House of Commons speaker Betty Boothroyd has delivered a devastating assessment of Boris Johnson’s government in a speech in the House of Lords. Baroness Boothroyd, who previously said she could not trust Johnson to even run a bath, said in 47 years in parliament she has “never seen trust in a government fall so far […]

The government’s controversial new Brexit legislation could set “a disastrous precedent” if passed in its current form, the UK’s archbishops have warned in a rare joint letter. The five senior church leaders, including the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, said the decisions implemented in the UK Internal Market Bill would “profoundly affect” the relationship between […]

John Sentamu is expected to get a life peerage imminently, it has emerged, after the government was accused of “institutional prejudice” over Britain’s first black archbishop not being automatically ennobled. It was expected that Sentamu, 71, who retired as the Archbishop of York on June 7, would be given a life peerage so he could […]

A renewed bid to secure the continuation of free movement with the EU as part of future trade links has been launched by peers at Westminster. The government has been pressed in the House of Lords to hammer out a so-called “mobility framework” with Brussels. The Liberal Democrat-led call came during the committee stage in […]

A Tory minister has claimed that businesses have their “head in the sands” over the impact that Brexit will have on their companies. Cabinet Office minister Lord Agnet said “it’s their businesses at stake” if they fail to prepare for the end of the Brexit transition period on December 31. Agnew said that businesses had […]