BROWN MUST NOT ENNOBLE RETIRING MPs

BROWN MUST NOT ENNOBLE RETIRING MPs

Just days before Gordon Brown is expected to call an election Labour
activists are now echoing the call of SNP MP Angus MacNeil - who initiated
the cash-for-peerages investigation four years ago – for Prime Minister
Gordon Brown not to ennoble any MPs that are retiring from Parliament.

With Labour saying they will support legislation for a wholly elected
House of Lords, activists on the party website LabourList are also calling
on Gordon Brown not to appoint any new peers at the dissolution of
Parliament.

At least 9 Scottish Labour MPs have announced formally that they are
stepping down at the General Election and the House of Commons has already
voted for an elected House of Lords in 2007 and the cash-for-peerages
scandal played a significant part in that vote.

Commenting Mr MacNeil said:

“Labour’s commitment to reforming in the House of Lords is already
massively discredited by the fact they’ve been promising to take action
for 100 years and we’re still waiting.

“If Gordon Brown is serious this time round, he should immediately rule
out ennobling any of the MPs who have announced they are standing down at
this election. To rush through peerages for these individuals would make a
mockery of this latest pledge.

"This Parliament has been mired in an expenses scandal and I doubt it
would sit well with ordinary folk if politicians who were not prepared to
face voters were elevated to the House of Lords. It is obviously not
sitting well with Labour activists who are also calling for no
ennoblements when this Parliament dissolves.

"In fact, what is the point of the House of Lords in the 21st century?
Abolishing the House of Lords is the SNP's option - not least because it
would save the taxpayer £100 million a year. It took cash-for-peerages
even to get us to the stage of Labour backing an elected chamber.

"If Gordon Brown doesn't rule out ennobling retiring MPs, it will raise
questions of whether voters can really trust what his party promises.
Constitutional reform is fundamental to improving democracy – Labour's
present position must not simply be a hollow election pledge for another
century to come.”