Tory Brexit boost? Nine new Conservative Lords appointed
The move is described as a "desperate grab for power by a regime losing its grip on Parliament (and) public opinion".
Friday 18 May 2018 19:12, UK
Nine Conservatives are among 13 new peers appointed to the House of Lords in a move some have described as an attempt to boost the Government's support for Brexit.
It comes after 15 recent defeats in the Lords over the Brexit withdrawal bill.
Among the life peerages are the former secretary of state for social security and vocal Leave campaigner, Peter Lilley, former communities secretary, Sir Eric Pickles and former chairman of the Treasury Select Committee, Andrew Tyrie.
Liberal Democrat Leader in the Lords, Dick Newby, said: "This is a cynical response from Theresa May to losing a string of votes in the Lords in recent weeks, and is a desperate bid to quell opposition to the Conservatives' reckless Brexit.
"The fact that she is doing this on the Friday evening before the royal wedding is frankly pathetic."
He added: "This is a desperate grab for power by a regime losing its grip on Parliament, public opinion and even its own backbenches.
"The PM is running scared of the mounting criticism of her disastrous handling of Brexit."
Ahead of the announcement, Lord Adonis said the move was "a classic example of packaging the Lords to try and make Brexit easier to endorse".
The nine new Lords are unlikely, however, to tip the balance in the upper house.
The average defeat on the Withdrawal Bill in the Lords was by a margin of 67 peers. The largest was 128 and the smallest 24.
Other Conservative appointments include Diana Barran, the founder and lately chief executive of charity SafeLives, former solicitor general Sir Edward Garnier, Sir Alan Haselhurst, former MP for Saffron Walden, founder of Action Against Abduction, Catherine Meyer, former deputy chief whip and special adviser to the Prime Minister, Sir John Randall, and Amanda Sater, lately deputy chairman of the Conservative Party.
One of Labour's appointments is also controversial. Martha Osamor, a campaigner on immigration, employment rights and racial discrimination has been accused of defending people who have been accused of anti-semitism within the party.
Gideon Falter, chairman of the Campaign Against Anti-Semitism, said: "Ms Osamor is one of the foremost defenders of disgraced Labour figures suspended or expelled over anti-semitism allegations, including Ken Livingstone, Jackie Walker and Tony Greenstein.
"She has compared the suspension of Labour members over alleged anti-semitism to the McCarthy era and the Salem witch trials.
"Mr Corbyn has promised action, not just words, against anti-semitism in the Labour Party.
"Today his actions speak louder than ever."
Other Labour appointments include author Pauline Bryan and the party's former general secretary, Ian McNicol.
The Democratic Unionist party appointed the former MP for South Antrim, Dr William McCrea.
The Queen also approved Baroness Chakrabarti to be sworn on to the Privy Council.
Following the announcement of the conferral of 13 new peerages Lord Fowler, the Lord Speaker, said: "When the Prime Minister wrote to me in February, she made it clear that the new peerages announced today are a long-planned list arising from the dissolution of Parliament before the June 2017 general election.
"In that letter, she also committed herself to restraint when making new appointments to the House of Lords. The relatively modest size of today's list when compared with those under several previous Prime Ministers has demonstrated a welcome commitment to that pledge.
"I established a committee under the chairmanship of Lord Burns to reduce the size of the House which reported last October. Their report was supported by the House of Lords itself.
"Today's appointments in no way undermine those recommendations: indeed, the number of new peers announced today is about a third of the 35 peers who have left the House since the 2017 election. The size of the House is falling, and our aim is to continue that progress."