Lords ‘to retire’ if Parliament restoration sees them booted out of Westminster
GETTY Lords ‘to retire’ if Parliament restoration sees them booted out of Westminster for years
Peers prepare to vote on plans, which were approved by MPs last week, to move out of Parliament for six years to allow a restoration project to take place. Some peers are expected to try to stop the plans over concerns about having to “decant” to another building while the renovations are carried out. One former clerk of the House of Commons has warned that MPs and peers are “stewards” of the building and have a responsibility to allow the repairs to take place. Lord Blencathra, a former Conservative chief whip, said: “I have in mind the possibility of decanting out of Parliament to the [Queen Elizabeth II conference centre in Westminster] in 2023 or 2024 ... I suspect that there may be a big rush of peers wishing to retire then.”
This comes after key Brexit legislation cleared its first obstacle in the upper house after a two-day debate which featured a record number of speakers. Peers gave the European Union Withdrawal Bill an unopposed second reading following 20 hours of debates. However, next month the Bill will be examined line by line and could be amended several times. In total, 190 peers spoke during the debate and many of them stressed that although the measure must pass it needed amendment.
Images from inside the House of Lords: Peers have voted to guarantee EU citizens' rights Wed, March 1, 2017 The House of Lords voted overwhelmingly in favour of an amendment to the Prime Minister’s proposed Brexit legislation Play slideshow PA 1 of 11 A packed House of Lords, London, as the Government is facing possible defeat in the House of Lords as peers push for guarantees over the rights of EU nationals living in the UK after Brexit
Meanwhile, William Hague, the former Tory leader, warned against getting on to a "referendum merry-go-round" over the UK's withdrawal from the EU. He said: "We could have made a success of the UK in the EU and we can make a success, with some cost and upheaval, of being outside the EU. "But we cannot possibly make a success of being in a national state of bewilderment about when we're going to have another referendum and which direction we are going in." While Lord Hague admitted the bill had not been delivered to the Lords "in a perfect finished form”, he argued the push for a second referendum or any attempts to undo the people’s choice to leave the bloc could "plunge the country into a long and bitter dispute and division, greater than anything we have seen so far".
GETTY MPs voted to move out of Parliament within the decade
However he urged the Government to offer a "warmer embrace" to parliamentary scrutiny amid concerns the bill takes power away from MPs and instead consolidates control for ministers. He added: ”I hope ministers will continue the robust implementation of the referendum, will set forth the arguments against a referendum merry-go-round that might never end and isn't in the national interest - but will embrace the parliamentary scrutiny and sovereignty which was meant to be one of the upsides of leaving the EU." Earlier this month, Lord Adonis, a strong opponent of Brexit, said he wants everything “deleted” from the EU Bill. He said: “It is such a dreadful Bill - all power to the Government, trashing our entire system of trade & international relations. I constantly want to table just one amendment: 'DELETE ALL’!”
GETTY William Hague warned against getting on to a "referendum merry-go-round"