New Labour peer accused of 'hypocrisy' over call for Lords to be scrapped
2 min read
A new peer appointed by Jeremy Corbyn has been accused of “bare-faced hypocrisy” after it emerged she called for the House of Lords to be scrapped.
Activist Paula Bryan wrote that she wanted to see a “federal republic of Britain: abolish the Monarchy and the House of Lords” ahead of the 2015 election, according to the Mail on Sunday.
But she was among three peers appointed by the Labour leader this week and will be entitled to a £300-a-day allowance each day she attends the upper chamber for the rest of her life.
Tory MP Andrew Percy told the paper: “It beggars belief that just two years since Ms Bryan called for the Lords to be consigned to the dustbin of political history, she is now scrambling to get in there.
“Ditching her hard-Left principles in return for a peerage is just bare-faced hypocrisy.”
A Labour source said Ms Bryan meant that she wanted to replace the Lords with an elected upper chamber.
Mr Corbyn also faced criticism for handing a peerage to race equality campaigner Martha Osamor after it emerged she had defended Labour activists suspended from the party over alleged anti-Semitism.
And Theresa May was blasted for appointing nine new Tory peers after a string of crushing defeats in the Upper Chamber on her flagship Brexit legislation.
Labour peer and arch-Remainer Lord Adonis accused the Prime Minister of stuffing the Lords with loyal peers in an attempt to ram through her Brexit agenda.
He told The Guardian: "This is a classic example of packing the Lords to try and make Brexit easier to endorse."
Alexandra Runswick, director of campaign group Unlock Democracy, meanwhile accused the Government of "cowering in the shade" of the Royal Wedding by announcing the peerages during the highly-publicised event.
PoliticsHome Newsletters
PoliticsHome provides the most comprehensive coverage of UK politics anywhere on the web, offering high quality original reporting and analysis: Subscribe
