Sadiq Khan has been handed a peerage – with a seat in the House of Lords – alongside 15 other Labour figures in one of Sir Keir Starmer’s final acts as PM. Worse, Starmer’s resignation honours are still to come. The Mail has the story.
The London Mayor is entering the House of Lords in the latest batch of honours nominated by Sir Keir.
Broadcaster June Sarpong and former Unison general secretary Christina McAnea are also on the list.
In a potentially controversial move, Sir Sadiq will not give up his role as Mayor – although it is understood he would not accept a ministerial role under incoming PM Andy Burnham.
Sir Sadiq and the 25 other new peers – including five Lib Dems, three Tories and two crossbenchers – will be entitled to £390 tax free for every day they attend the Lords. There are typically 150 sitting days a year.
Aides did not immediately say whether the Mayor – who already has a £170,000 salary – would take the payment or donate it to charity.
It is also unclear what Burnham, who is set to take over in No. 10 on Monday, thinks of the appointments.
He has long argued for reform of the Upper chamber, insisting last month that “half of our national legislature being unelected” was “quite scandalous” and that he would not “rule out quite an early change”.
The Tories have nominated three new peers, including former army chief General Patrick Sanders and Carphone Warehouse founder David Ross.
The Lib Dems have been granted five, but there were no spots for Reform.
Former Appeal Court judge Sir Brian Leveson, author of the Leveson Report into press standards, becomes a crossbench peer.
He will be joined by former cabinet secretary Chris Wormald. Sir Keir effectively forced the civil servant out of his job during the Mandelson vetting scandal.
The list is separate to any resignation honours that Sir Keir might present.
He has pointedly refused to rule out a set of farewell nominations, despite promising while in Opposition that he would never do one.
Worth reading in full.
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Animal Farm
Starmer did it to watch heads explode on the Right.
But… when the revolution comes, it’s the aristos who get the chop first.
Sultan Sadiq of Tower Hamlets
It’s time to change the HoL to an elected Chamber. A second house is needed to keep the stupid Governments in check, but not with appointed peers.
However the Government still gets away with stupid decisions without even a Parliamentary debate.
Britain, you must be horrified! The House of Lords cost this country money it does not have. Having lived here for 30 yrs, I could weep. Pack the House of Commons, redistrict towns and cities with Labour camps and you are getting close to communism? Surely there is system of checks and balance in the UK? What is happening?
Parliament I think was originally conceived as a check on the exercise of power by the Monarch. There are conventions regarding what legislation the Lords can and cannot reject without being overridden by the Commons, the intention being to stop them thwarting the will of the people as expressed by electing MPs. But Parliament is sovereign. The check and balance is that we get to vote and chuck them out, but these days with universal suffrage and enough prosperity to fund a parasitic class for a while at least, we have developed a liking for Socialism. I think the USA being a much younger country with a well designed political system has not gone quite so far down this wrong road.
This perfectly sums up Khan.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JygSW_RTRdA
Thanks for this however I now have the Jake the Peg ear worm….
It is a disgrace for the Labour government to stuff the HoL with its supporters.The choice of Khan is especially regrettable – was it a deal that he would be elevated (to an increasingly discredited House) if he supported Starmer.
Lord Khan.? I feel sick…
Lord Khanage.
Well why should we be surprised, he said he didn’t believe in prime ministers giving out awards when they leave and now he has. Leaving as he he began, breaking promises, the lying POS.
What a farce.
What will the hideous lump of political dross known as Khanage-the-Vile now be known at Lord Khanage-the-Vile?
Khanage really is turning into Yoda, but without the integrity.
Not looking well these days is he….? Maybe he needs to retire from public life. Everyone would be a winner then.
Has looked very odd since he returned from his pilgrimage or whatever it was:just an observation.
I think he looks ill. Like he’s aged a decade. But he didn’t have a beard before, did he, so maybe that adds to the overall effect.
Is there no end to this Fresh hell
It seems not… Khan in the HoL….