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Politics
Liam O'Dell
Oct 15, 2023
Related video: Keir Starmer showered in glitter by stage intruder during Labour conference speech
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Just days after a protester stormed the Labour Party Conference stage, covered Sir Keir Starmer in glitter and demanded a “people’s house”, the party leader has reportedly dropped his previous commitment to scrap the House of Lords.
Sir Keir succeeded Jeremy Corbyn in the 2020 leadership election on a ticket which saw him make 10 pledges on a range of political issues – one of which was to “abolish the House of Lords” and “replace it with an elected chamber of regions and nations” as part of a “radical devolution of power, wealth and opportunity”.
However, The Observer reported on Sunday that Labour looks to “scale back its plans for House of Lords reform during a first time in office”, citing “several shadow cabinet sources” who have told the outlet that it would cause “huge constitutional upheaval” and clog up the parliamentary timetable.
The paper added an elected chamber would still be a long-term objective for Labour, but the first term in government would only see them go as far as to consider capping peer numbers, strengthening the Lords’ appointments body, and ditching the remaining hereditary peers, according to senior figures.
It’s not the first time that Sir Keir has appeared to U-turn on past pledges, as he’s abandoned the abolition of tuition fees (that was under commitment number two, “social justice”); and told the BBC he would not nationalise the Big Six energy companies (commitment five, “common ownership”),
In past comments made to BBC News, Sir Keir said: “I stand by the principles and the values behind the pledges I made to our members, but the most important pledge I made was that I would turn it into a party that would be fit for government, capable of winning a general election. I’m not going to be deflected from that.”
He confirmed “winning a general election” was more important than unity within his own party.
And with The Observer also writing that Labour is considering stepping back from plans for social care reform in next year’s election, Twitter/X users have expressed frustration at yet more U-turns – with one going as far as to brand Sir Keir Starmer “the most untrustworthy politician in Britain”:
Scrapping the House of Lords will "no longer be a first-term commitment" for a Starmer Government, reports the Observer. \n\nHere's what he promised during his leadership campaign https://t.co/lNIPUKXdFG— Adam Bienkov (@Adam Bienkov) 1697348554
Anybody who believed SIR @Keir_Starmer would abolish the House of Lords is living in cloud cuckoo land. The man is as establishment as they come.— James Foster (@James Foster) 1697355624
Labour scrub yet another commitment from their first term agenda.\n\nAt this rate, they may end up with just two line items left:\n\n1. Win election\n2. We'll see— Edwin Hayward (@Edwin Hayward) 1697362219
"I'm determined we will deliver, I think too many people watching this will be fed up with politicians saying what they're going to dop it and not delivering it"\n\nStarmer in December 2022, when asked about Labour delivering on the Lords in the first term.— Saul Staniforth (@Saul Staniforth) 1697352332
In his Labour conference speech 4 days ago, Wes Streeting spoke about "our 10 year plan for a National Care Service"\n\nToday, "The Observer understands that Starmer\u2019s party will avoid laying out a detailed plan for reform of social care"\n\nhttps://t.co/yZP8cWYzdt— Andrew Fisher (@Andrew Fisher) 1697355286
Yet more Labour Party U-turns under Starmer. Labour kick abolition of the House of Lords into the long-grass. In its place they propose abolishing hereditary peers; new appointments process. Lords abolition takes time; but this is how the Lords continues.\nhttps://t.co/Pvllslg1or— Gerry Hassan \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@Gerry Hassan \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1697359379
Starmer scraps his pledge to scrap the House of Lords. How many pledges and promises has he broken now? The most untrustworthy politician in Britain.— Tweets by Sue (@Tweets by Sue) 1697356454
Scrapping the House of Lords will \u201cno longer be a first-term commitment\u201d for a Starmer Government.\nNor will it be a second-term commitment.— Kenneth MacRae (@Kenneth MacRae) 1697358478
It certainly doesn’t stop the Conservatives from continuing to push the line that Sir Keir ‘flip flops’ on political issues – a retort which the Tories have sought to commercialise in the form of actual summer footwear featuring the Labour leader.
The £16.99 flip flops have proven popular, it seems, as they’re currently out of stock.
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