House of Lords: Gavin blasts "honours for the boys" farce
Gavin Newlands, the MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire North, has today reaffirmed his staunch opposition to the unelected House of Lords in the wake of reports that suggest that recently defeated MPs will be rewarded with peerages and knighthoods, stating that it is “an affront to democracy and shows complete contempt for the electorate”. Reports today suggest that a number of Liberal Democrat MPs – including the recently-ousted Highlands MP and former Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander – who lost their seats at the election in May are to be rewarded with peerages and knighthoods, despite being comprehensively rejected by the electorate. The Liberal Democrats have now just one MP in Scotland, but look certain to add their tally at Westminster’s second chamber. It now seems likely that in addition to the new peers, a number of ex-MPs will be awarded knighthoods. Gavin Newlands, the MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire North, commented:
“The Prime Minister, not content with his plans to stuff the already bloated House of Lords with unelected peers, now plans to formally reward his former Liberal Democrat helpers with knighthoods.
“Make no mistake, this is blatantly honours for the boys – it is an affront to democracy and shows complete contempt for the for the electorate who emphatically rejected these ex-MPs at the last election. It takes the golden goodbye to a whole new and absurd level.
“The ridiculousness of these recent revelations only goes to prove that the House of Lords is not just unelected or archaic – but its broken. The House of Lords, the second chamber of the UK Parliament, is supposed to provide checks and hold the government to account.
“We need no further evidence that this system is broken after the Prime Minister attempts to stuff the Lords with more Tory peers to steam-roll his draconian legislative agenda through the UK Parliament.
“Abolish the House of Lords – and do it now.”
