SNP claim Labour up to ‘old sleekit tricks’ after reports Sir Keir Starmer would create more Lords

Sir Keir Starmer was criticised amid claims he would add more peers to the House of Lords.

The SNP has accused Labour of being up to “its old sleekit tricks’ after claims Sir Keir Starmer would create more Lords.

Labour policy is to abolish the House of Lords and replace it with an elected upper chamber, but the party has now admitted it would fill the chamber with more peers to help implement their agenda in Government.

There are only 174 Labour peers, making up 22 per cent of the Lords, meaning policy could be blocked by Tory peers, who have 263. Sir Keir would need to ennoble almost 100 Labour politicians to prevent this.

Sir Keir Starmer is rumoured to want to appoint more peers to the House of Lords.

The party conceded it may take more than one term to shift the balance, but said it still wants to replace the “indefensible” Lords with a new elected chamber in a first term.

Sir Keir’s spokesman said: “Every government when they first come into power do not have a majority within the House of Lords because of the nature of the appointments process.

“And every government as a matter of custom and practice looks to make appointments to the House of Lords, but it’s not something that’s done in one fell swoop, it’s something that takes time and often takes more than a term in government for that to happen.”

He said new Labour peers would be expected to back abolition, with the full details of the policy to be set out ahead of the next general election.

In December, Sir Keir unveiled plans led by former prime minister Gordon Brown to replace the Lords with a democratic assembly of nations and regions.

His spokesman said: “That reform of the House of Lords will be in the first term of a Labour government.”

There are 779 members in what is one of the world’s biggest upper chambers, even before Boris Johnson’s resignation honours choices take up their positions.

Sir Keir’s spokesman suggested reforms could take place before full abolition, such as getting rid of by-elections for the remaining hereditary peers.

He said: “There may be interim reforms along the way, I’m not ruling that out.”

Now SNP MP Tommy Sheppard MP has claimed voters in Scotland will think Labour are "up to their old sleekit tricks again".

He said: “The House of Lords fails at every level to represent or respect the views and wishes of the Scottish people. It has no place in a modern democracy, and is a key contributor to this broken Westminster system.

“That is why the SNP is the only major party to have consistently campaigned for it to be abolished. Meanwhile, Labour have been promising to abolish the House of Lords for 113 years, but they lack the backbone for any meaningful action.

"It will come as no surprise to voters in Scotland that, yet again, Sir Keir Starmer’s party is U-turning on another pledge – this time to reform the House of Lords. They're up to their old sleekit tricks again, and voters across the country can see right through their hollow promises.”