Tom Watson says Sunak should call off the vote on Monday over Bernard Jenkin…
Clearly, Jenkin’s views were significant in deciding the parameters of the inquiry. As I pen this, I grapple with an urge to disregard this contentious issue, to leave it to others, but the more I contemplate it, the more I’m convinced of the necessity for a temporary reprieve for Boris Johnson. Unlike in a court of law, Johnson doesn’t have the right to appeal the decision, which was made on a balance of probabilities.
In Rishi Sunak’s position, I would ascertain the facts before allowing Parliament to consign Boris Johnson to political oblivion come Monday. Their personal animosity should not cloud due process. Only Sunak can delay parliamentary proceedings to establish the facts and discuss potential alternatives if it transpires that Jenkin should have recused himself. And only Sunak can ensure an appeal process, should the facts dictate it. He should act today.
Having opened PMQs by attacking the Tories for getting distracted over Boris’s resignation honours list, Sir Keir then spent most of the session talking about… Boris’s resignation honours list. At one point claiming the new peers will have legislative powers for “the rest of their lives”, which suggests Starmer either expects to lose the next election, or will U-turn on abolishing the Lords if he wins…
Rishi had a decent comeback over Starmer’s insistence he should have blocked the list entirely:
“…Perhaps he could explain why he put forward for a peerage the former Labour MP Tom Watson, who spread vicious conspiracy theories that were totally and utterly untrue, damaged public discourse, and inflicted misery on innocent people?”
Hoyle didn’t like that. Suspect Watson will be upset as well…
It is the season of goodwill and we must take Lord Watson’s offer of “an unreserved apology” to Lady Brittan at face value. Former Home Secretary Leon Brittan and his widow suffered terribly as a result of Watson’s misplaced – and Guido thinks partisan – zeal in the investigation of historic child sexual abuse. Others suffered at his over-zealous hand too. Guido is not aware of them having received apologies. They are equally deserving. It is never too late…
Labour’s big Sunday headline was their plan to abolish the House of Lords to “restore trust in politics”. The idea to replace the Lords with an elected upper chamber was pitched to contrast the party with successive Tory governments “handing peerages to ‘lackeys and donors'”.
Ignoring the fact that Blair put hundreds of Labour-supporting peers in the Lords and subsequently faced the Cash-for-Honours scandal – Sir Keir’s railing against lifelong jobs for mates looks pretty odd. Since taking over as Labour leader, he’s seen 18 Labour supporters into the upper house…
31 July 2020
22 December 2020
14 October 2022
This represents twice the number of new peers installed under Jeremy Corbyn, who himself gave chums like Shami Chakrabarti the ermine robes.
We also recently learnt that Rosie Cooper, who in September said she was going to resign as an MP, is refusing to stand down while she tries to secure a peerage. More than the Lords hypocrisy, Guido reckons Remainer-in-Chief Starmer will have a hard time restoring trust in politics with constitutional reform after his years of attempted Brexit-blocking…
Last night, The Telegraph gave us advanced sight of the latest political cronies set to don ermine and enter the Lords. Boris is appointing a group of Brexiteers, Tory donors, former MPs, and Paul Dacre – though shakes up the list with top Remainer Sir Nicholas Soames. Labour, on the other hand, finally seems on the verge of getting former deputy leader Tom Watson into the upper house. The LibDems get precisely zero new Lords…
Tom Watson’s impending investiture is arguably the most surprising on the list, given just two years ago it was widely reported that he’d been blocked by the House of Lords Appointments Commission following a nomination by Jeremy Corbyn.
At the time, The Independent, The Sun, The Guardian and The Times all confidently reported that Watson’s blocking from the Lords was wholly down to his scandalous support for allegations of a Westminster paedophile ring, made by the jailed fantasist Carl Beech. Back in 2020, it was former Tory MP Harvey Proctor who successfully led the campaign to deny Watson a peerage after being smeared as part of Operation Midland.
In nominating Tom Watson for a peerage Sir Keir Starmer has illustrated a distinct lack of judgment.
— Harvey Proctor (@KHarveyProctor) October 2, 2022
Starmer has also displayed complete disregard for Lord Bew & the House of Lords Appointments Commission who refused Watson’s first nomination by Corbyn in 2020!
What exactly has changed in the last two years?
The Sunday Times scooped the news that Corbyn is nominating Bercow, Karie Murphy and Tom Watson – among others – for peerages. The revolution will begin after they’ve finished appointing unelected ermine-draped lords…
Back in 2016 Tom Watson led calls for Theresa May to block David Cameron’s resignation honours on the basis he was using the list to “repay political debts to his allies”, and in the process was undermining a system that should be used only to “reward exceptional public service”. If Watson accepts, it’ll be quite the self-assessment…
Watson complained to the World at One that giving Labour advisor Spencer Livermore a peerage was “rewarding failure” given his part in losing the election, ironic given Lord Watson will now be sitting next to Karie Murphy on the red benches. When Watson announced his resignation before the election, Guido was told he had agreed to go quietly in exchange for a peerage.
