UK Politics

Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UKSign up to our Brexit email for the latest insightRishi Sunak is facing an uphill battle to make the general election a presidential-style contest, as a shock new poll reveals he is voters’ preferred PM in only a handful of constituencies across Britain.Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer is the most popular leader in 390 seats in England, Wales and Scotland – while Mr Sunak is voters’ first choice in just four seats.Mr Starmer is even ahead of Mr Sunak in the prime minister’s own North Yorkshire constituency of Richmond, in a series of grim survey findings for the Conservatives.It comes as Tory chairman Richard Holden revealed there was still a “one-third” chance Mr Sunak could hold an earlier-than-expected general election in May 2024.And Mr Sunak has been branded “weak and desperate” as Boris Johnson’s former adviser Dominic Cummings claimed that he and Mr Sunak held top-secret meetings about returning as a No 10 strategist ahead of the election.As election fever mounts, a major new seat-by-seat analysis by Focaldata for the Best for Britain campaign group found that Mr Starmer is beating Mr Sunak in hundreds of constituencies on the question of who makes the best PM.Nationally, the Labour leader is the ahead of his Tory rival by 32 per cent to 22 per cent. Only Braintree, Castle Point, Clacton and North Bedfordshire put Mr Sunak ahead of Mr Starmer and undecideds.And the Tory leader is third choice on preferred PMs in his own seat of Richmond. “Don’t know” was local voters’ top response with 32 per cent, Sir Keir came second with 27 per cent, and Mr Sunak third at just 24 per cent.Sunak is preferred PM in only four constituencies The only silver lining for the prime minister comes from the large proportion of undecided voters still up for grabs. The number of “don’t knows” on the question of preferred PM were ahead in 238 seats.The poll also shows that 61 per cent of voters want an early general election by at least May, with only 17 per cent hoping the PM waits until autumn to call the vote.Mr Holden, the Tory chairman, told the Mail on Sunday: “The chance of a May election is about a third. It is more likely to be at the back end of the year. My job is to be ready whenever it happens.”Despite the possibility of going early, Tory election strategist Isaac Levido has “pencilled in” a likely election for 14 November, according to the Sunday Times. The 10,000-person MRP poll by Focaldata also revealed a high level of interest in tactical voting, and widespread dismay with Brexit. Some 52 per cent, potentially representing 16 million voters, said they would consider voting tactically.Some 9 in 10 of self-identified tactical voters said Brexit has increased the cost of the weekly shop. And a majority (55 per cent) of these undecided tactical voters want Labour to seek a closer relationship with the EU.The MRP poll also found that Labour lead the Tories nationally by 35 per cent to 19 per cent. The Electoral Calculus analysis of these results point to Labour winning 415 seats – a huge majority of 180 seats for Sir Keir. The Tories would lose around 200 seats and be left with just 151 MPs.Labour leader Keir Starmer is preferred PM in 390 seats Naomi Smith, chief executive of the internationalist campaign group Best for Britain, said: “The message in our polling from voters is clear – they want an election, they think Brexit has hurt them in their pockets, and they’re prepared to vote tactically for change.”She added: “With the possibility of Farage’s party offering a life raft to his vulnerable friends on the Conservative right, tactical voting will be more important than ever.”It comes as the PM face fresh outrage over a shock report claiming that he asked Mr Cummings for advice to help the Tories ”smash” Labour when Britain goes to the polls.Dominic Cummings says Sunak wanted advice on how to win the election Mr Cummings told the Sunday Times that he urged Mr Sunak to abandon his cautious economic approach, hold an emergency budget, settle the NHS strikes and double the threshold at which people pay the 40p rate of income tax from £50,271 to £100,000.He also reportedly advocated leaving the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) as part of the Rwanda deportation plan.No 10 has not denied Mr Cummings’ account of a secret meeting, but said no job offer was made. A Downing Street source said: “It was a broad discussion about politics and campaigning, no job was offered.”The Liberal Democrats have called for an official Cabinet Office inquiry into whether Mr Sunak breached the ministerial code by failing to declare his “shady” meetings with Mr Cummings.The party pointed to Mr Sunak’s transparency returns, which do not include the meetings, and urged an inquiry to look at whether the discussions were reported to the Cabinet Office, as required under the code.A government spokesperson said: “In full accordance with the ministerial code, meetings with private individuals to discuss political matters do not need to be declared.”It came as a video re-emerged showing Mr Sunak claiming during the summer Tory leadership contest that Mr Cummings would have “absolutely nothing to do with any government that I am privileged to lead”.Labour’s shadow foreign secretary David Lammy questioned Mr Sunak’s judgement over “secret meetings” with “this loathsome individual who has brought so much chaos on our country”.The frontbencher told his LBC programme: “You’d have thought he would have learned something from his poor judgement on Suella Braverman.”Meanwhile, Brexit campaign financier Arron Banks has said he would seek to raise £10m from defecting Tory donors for Reform UK if Nigel Farage makes comeback to lead the party.“One of the things about Nigel … is he can cut through to the red-wall seats in a way that Richard Tice doesn’t,” the EU.Leave co-founder told the Sunday Times. “My view is we could raise £10m to kick Reform into the next league – that’s obviously a Nigel-dependent thing.”Mr Banks added: “A lot of Tory donors love [Mr Farage] … I think their view is that if Rishi isn’t replaced post haste, they could possibly get behind Reform. You are pushing at a half-open door. There are Tory donors who are absolutely furious.”Mr Sunak said the public should look forward with “pride and optimism” to 2024 as he insisted his economic plan was already working in his new year message. Sir Keir challenged voters in his end-of-year message – saying the future of Britain “rests in their hands” at the upcoming general election. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailThere is a good chance that Rishi Sunak will call an earlier-than-expected general election in the spring, the Conservative Party chair has revealed.Richard Holden said there was still a “one-third” chance that the prime minister will hold an election in May, despite expectations that No 10 wants to wait until the autumn. It comes as a new poll reveals Sir Keir Starmer is the preferred choice for PM in 390 seats in England, Wales and Scotland – while Mr Sunak is voters’ first choice in just four seats.And Mr Sunak has been branded “weak and desperate” after Boris Johnson’s former chief adviser Dominic Cummings claimed that he and Mr Sunak held top-secret meetings about returning as a No 10 strategist ahead of the election.Despite the uphill battle faced by the Tories, the chair said the party could be prepared to launch an election campaign in just months – shortly after chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s 6 March Budget.“The chance of a May election is about a third. It is more likely to be at the back end of the year. My job is to be ready whenever it happens,” Mr Holden told the Mail on Sunday.The cabinet minister also hinted that fresh personal tax cuts are in the March Budget, as he played down reports the PM and chancellor could scrap inheritance tax.Asked about the possibility of death taxes being ditched, he said: “What you want is tax cuts which affect as many people as possible.”Mr Sunak will be accused of ‘bottling’ election if he waits until autumn Mr Holden claimed the Conservatives could still pull off a shock victory in 2024 because the party’s base remained unconvinced by the Labour leader. He said traditional Tory voters could return “because the threat of Starmer – a man who we do not know what he stands for – is just so great.”Despite the possibility of going early, Tory election strategist Isaac Levido has “pencilled in” a likely election for 14 November, according to the Sunday Times.As election fever mounts, a major new seat-by-seat analysis by Focaldata for the Best for Britain campaign group found that Mr Starmer is beating Mr Sunak in hundreds of constituencies on the question of who makes the best PM.Nationally, the Labour leader is the ahead of his Tory rival by 32 per cent to 22 per cent. Only Braintree, Castle Point, Clacton and North Bedfordshire put Mr Sunak ahead of Mr Starmer and undecideds.The poll also shows that 61 per cent of voters want an early general election by at least May, with only 17 per cent hoping the PM waits until autumn to call the vote.The Tories claimed that Labour would pile £2,200 a year on working families from the opposition’s promise to invest £28bn in green jobs. But a Labour spokesperson said the claims are “total garbage and a desperately absurd claim from a Tory Party which has increased taxes on working people”.Mr Starmer says voters will decide ‘Britain’s future’ in 2024 Meanwhile, the PM is said to have asked Mr Johnson’s former chief aide for advice as he pushed for a “secret deal” with Mr Cummings to help the Tories win when Britain goes to the polls.Mr Cummings told the Sunday Times that he urged Mr Sunak to abandon his cautious economic approach, hold an emergency budget, settle the NHS strikes and double the threshold at which people pay the 40p rate of income tax from £50,271 to £100,000.He also reportedly advocated leaving the European Convention on Human Rights as part of the Rwanda deportation plan.No 10 has not denied Mr Cummings’s account of a secret meeting, but said no job offer was made. A Downing Street source said: “It was a broad discussion about politics and campaigning, no job was offered.”Elsewhere, Brexit campaign financier Arron Banks has said he would seek to raise £10m from defecting Tory donors for Reform UK if Nigel Farage makes a comeback to lead the party.“One of the things about Nigel… is he can cut through to the red-wall seats in a way that Richard Tice doesn’t,” the Leave.EU co-founder told the Sunday Times. “My view is we could raise £10m to kick Reform into the next league – that’s obviously a Nigel-dependent thing.” More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRishi Sunak has said the public should look forward with “pride and optimism” to 2024 as he insisted his plan for Britain’s economy was already working.The PM urged voters to focus on the promise of a “brighter future” in a new year’s message, as he gears up for a general election campaign in the months ahead.Mr Sunak has already said he will call an election in 2024, with the Tories battling to cling on to power as opinion polls point to a huge and consistent Labour lead.The Tory leader used his message to claim he was “getting the economy growing” and promised to “further to grow our economy” next year.The PM may have met his promise to halve inflation in 2023 but a key pledge for growth was dealt a big blow earlier this month by figures showing GDP fell between July and September.Mr Sunak highlighted an upcoming cut to national insurance as an example of change under his leadership, and boasted of “decisive action” to stop migrant boats in the Channel.However, he faces calls from rebellious MPs in his own party to go further on tax cuts, and toughen up his flagship Rwanda bill to get deportation flights started by the spring.Rishi Sunak faces a struggle to push his Rwanda bill through parliament, then get flights off by springMPs in the “five families” of the Tory right – including Brexiteers the European Research Group (ERG) – have threatened to kill the bill if the government does not agree to amendments in the new year.Top legal adviser David Pannick is said have warned Mr Sunak’s government that the Rwanda bill may not get flights started as planned because it still allows individual legal appeals.A source familiar with the discussions told The Telegraph: “Lord Pannick acknowledged that without addressing individual claims the scheme would be severely impeded.”In his new year message, Mr Sunak said his “resolution” would be to “keep driving forward”. The PM said: “Inflation is set to fall further, cutting the cost of living for everyone. And we’re not stopping there.“We’re going further to grow our economy by reducing debt, cutting taxes, and rewarding hard work, building secure supplies of energy here at home, backing British business and delivering world-class education.”Mr Sunak added: “And we’re taking decisive action to stop the boats and break the business model of the criminal gangs.”The Tory leader’s focus on tax-cutting in his new year message comes after the government announced the main rate of national insurance will be reduced from 12 to 10 per cent from 6 January.There is speculation that the Tories could make more attention-grabbing pledges in the pre-election spring Budget – including ditching inheritance tax.Reports suggest death duties could possibly be slashed or scrapped, as Mr Sunak desperately looks for ways to turn around his party’s huge polls deficit and create policy dividing lines with Labour.However, former Conservative chancellor Norman Lamont has urged Mr Sunak to ignore calls from MPs on the right. The Tory grandee said he does not “buy” the argument that the tax on inherited wealth is widely hated – telling the PM to focus on cutting income tax instead.Mr Sunak also thanked “our incredible armed forces and NHS staff who take care of us all”. The message comes between strikes by junior doctors in England, with the longest walkout in NHS history due to begin on 3 January.He ended by saying: “We should look forward full of pride and optimism for what we can do together to build a brighter future for everyone. That’s what I’m determined to do, and I wish you all a very happy 2024.” By building expectations of a contest this spring, Labour is setting the stage to accuse Mr Sunak of “bottling it” if he holds on until the autumn.Sir Keir Starmer has challenged voters in his new year’s message – saying the future of Britain “rests in their hands” at the upcoming general election.The Labour leader will use his end-of-year address to deliver an election-themed message, framing 2024 as the year to “give Britain its future back”.He will say it has also been another tough year economically for millions – but that hope “is the fuel of change” and “the oxygen of a better future”. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster email An Albanian court on Saturday ordered house arrest for former Prime Minister Sali Berisha, who leads the opposition Democratic Party and is being investigated for possible corruption.Judge Irena Gjoka of the First Instance Special Court on Corruption and Organized Crime, which covers cases involving senior officials and politicians, accepted prosecutors’ request to put Berisha, 79, under house arrest after he violated the previous restrictive measures of reporting every two weeks. He was also barred from traveling abroad.His lawyer, Genc Gjokutaj, said the court also barred Berisha from communicating with people other than his family who lives with him, and considered the order a violation of law. Depriving Berisha of communication may become a wider political issue because he’s the leader of the main opposition party.Gjokutaj said he would appeal the court order. It is not clear how police officers would monitor Berisha at his apartment in downtown Tirana.Last week, parliament voted to strip Berisha of his legal immunity. Lawmakers loyal to Berisha tried to disrupt the session and boycotted the vote. Berisha has criticized his investigation and arrest as political repression ordered by Prime Minister Edi Rama, and has warned of “powerful protests.” In October, prosecutors publicly put Berisha under investigation for allegedly abusing his post to help his son-in-law, Jamarber Malltezi, privatize public land to build 17 apartment buildings. Prosecutors have yet to file formal charges in court and Berisha is still technically under investigation.“Rama’s New Year postcard is the arrest and isolation of the opposition leader!” Berisha’s son Shkelzen posted on Facebook. Prosecutors have said that if convicted, Berisha faces a prison sentence of up to 12 years.Berisha served as Albania’s prime minister from 2005-2013, and as president from 1992-1997. He was reelected as a lawmaker for the Democratic Party in the 2021 parliamentary elections.The United States government in May 2021 and the United Kingdom in July 2022 barred Berisha and close family members from entering their countries because of alleged involvement in corruption.Just days before the investigation into Berisha’s role in the land deal was revealed in October, opposition lawmakers have regularly disrupted sessions of parliament to protest the ruling Socialists’ refusal to create commissions to investigate alleged cases of corruption involving Rama and other top government officials.The Socialists say the plans are not in line with constitutional requirements.The disruptions are an obstacle to much-needed reforms at a time when the European Union has agreed to start the process of harmonizing Albanian laws with those of the EU as part of the Balkan country’s path toward full membership in the bloc.___Follow Llazar Semini at https://x.com/lsemini More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailFormer Conservative chancellor Norman Lamont has urged Rishi Sunak to ignore calls from his own MPs to ditch inheritance tax.The Tory grandee said he does not “buy” the argument that the tax on inherited wealth is widely hated – telling the PM to focus on cutting income tax instead.Mr Sunak and Jeremy Hunt are under pressure to deliver tax cuts by 6 March, with the PM and his chancellor said to be considering moves to scrap or cut inheritance tax.Sir Iain Duncan Smith, Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg and other senior Tories have urged him to get rid of inheritance tax in a bid to boost the party’s polling fortunes ahead of the general election.But Lord Lamont, chancellor under John Major between 1990 and 1993, said cutting it only benefits “a small number of people”, adding: “I don’t really buy the argument that it’s much hated by everyone.”“The largest number of people should benefit from whatever is possible,” the Tory peer told The Telegraph. “My priority would be [raising] income tax thresholds. They affect the most people.”Lord Lamont added: “I think you want to give some relief to people who have paid the price and have had to pay for some of the measures that were introduced during the [Covid] pandemic. I think the average person would like to see a little light at the end of the tunnel.”Norman Lamont was Tory chancellor under John Major Despite calls from the Tory right to scrap the “hated” inheritance tax, fewer than 4 per cent of estates in the UK pay the levy on inherited property, money and shares.The respected Institute for Fiscal Studies says the wealthiest 1 per cent of people in Britain would receive 47 per cent of the benefit of scrapping it. Inheritance tax is forecast to provide almost £10bn a year for the public coffers by 2028-29.A plan to abolish inheritance tax is being pondered as part of a “gear change” on tax, according to The Telegraph. But No 10 and Treasury sources have played down reports as speculation.Some red-wall Tory MPs have also urged Mr Sunak to bring in tax cuts for people on lower incomes – rather than cut inheritance tax for the wealthiest – in March.“We should concentrate on incomes and thresholds rather than inheritance tax. That produces more benefit for a greater number of people,” John Stevenson MP, head of the Northern Research Group, told the Daily Mail.Former minister Neil O’Brien, Tory MP for Harborough, said Mr Hunt should offer “tax cuts for those at the bottom end to help with the cost of living, and tax cuts that boost productivity”.However, many senior Tories are still pushing for the PM and chancellor to act on inheritance tax. Sir Jacob said inheritance tax was “a pernicious and bad tax, which ought to be scrapped”.Former leader Sir Iain said: “I would scrap it altogether. The political impact would be enormous.”Meanwhile, Ranil Jayawardena, chair of Liz Truss’ Conservative Growth Group, said: “Time is running out and the government needs to be bold: it’s time to scrap inheritance tax.” More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailTop legal adviser David Pannick is said have warned Rishi Sunak’s government that its Rwanda bill may not get deportation flights started as planned.The leading constitutional lawyer was asked by the government to help shape the legislation aimed at sending illegal migrants on one-way flights to the African country.Lord Pannick reportedly said that the bill’s allowance for individual appeal claims would limit the chances of success in deporting failed asylum seekers.A source familiar with the discussions told The Daily Telegraph: “Lord Pannick acknowledged that without addressing individual claims the scheme would be severely impeded.”Government lawyers are also believed to have warned that there was only a “50 per cent at best” chance of getting the first Rwanda flights off before the general election.Right-wing Tory MP are frustrated that Clause IV in the bill allows asylum seekers to lodge legal challenges against deportations based on individual circumstances.Dozens of hardline MPs also want Mr Sunak to go further by using “notwithstanding clauses” to opt out of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) in asylum cases.The Tory leader’s bill allows ministers to disapply parts of the Human Rights Act, but does not go as far as overriding the ECHR.Senior Tory Mark Francois has warned rebel MPs could still kill the bill MPs in the “five families” of the Tory right – including Brexiteers the European Research Group (ERG) – have threatened to kill the bill if the government does not agree to amendments in the new year.Attorney General Victoria Prentis is said to have argued against notwithstanding clauses to push any further in disapplying human rights law.Former immigration minister Robert Jenrick, who quit in fury over the “weak” bill, told colleagues the Home Office should “take back control” after he was excluded from a No 10 meeting with the Ms Prentis, according to the Telegraph.Mr Sunak also faces a challenge by Tory moderates in the “One Nation” group who are still considering how to amend the bill in a bid to soften its impact.Moderate Sir Robert Buckland confirmed that he was also considering how it might be “tweaked” to make it comply with human rights law.However, Damian Green, the One Nation wing’s chairman, said he hoped the “third reading would go through reasonably easily” so long as Mr Sunak sticks to the current, narrow “landing strip”.Despite winning a first reading vote before Christmas, Mr Sunak only needs a rebellion of 28 Tory MPs to see his majority destroyed at the crucial third reading stage, as Labour and other parties will vote against it.The legislation allows migrants to appeal their deportation if they have “compelling” evidence that being sent to Rwanda puts them at imminent risk of serious and irreversible harm.Home Office modelling suggests 99.5 per cent of individual legal challenges submitted by asylum seekers will fail to block their deportation.But Tory critics of the plan dismissed the assessment, based on a model from March, as “outdated”. And they remain unimpressed by Mr Sunak’s claim that legal challenges will be “vanishingly rare”.Lord Pannick decline to comment. The Home Office has been approached for comment. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailFormer prime minister Liz Truss has doled out peerages to the men who played key roles in masterminding Britain’s exit from the European Union.Ms Truss – who lasted just 49 days in No 10 after she decimated the UK economy – nominated Matthew Elliott, the former chief executive of Vote Leave and pro-Brexit Tory donor Sir Jon Moynihan to sit in the House of Lords.Mr Elliot helped found the TaxPayers’ Alliance, a small-state think-tank committed to low taxes, while Mr Moynihan donated £20,000 to Ms Truss‘s leadership campaign in 2021, and is the former chairman of Vote Leave.Ruth Porter, her former deputy chief of staff at No 10 is also on the list for a peerage, but there is no such honour for Mark Littlewood, the former boss of the Institute for Economic Affairs (IEA), who backed Ms Truss’ disastrous mini-Budget.Ms Truss and former Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s economic plans, which included £45bn of unfunded tax cuts, triggered chaos in the financial markets and steep declines in the pound.Mr Kwarteng was promptly sacked by Ms Truss just 38 days into the job. She survived just 49 days before being replaced by Rishi Sunak in Downing Street.Labour branded the honours recommended by Ms Truss “tarnished gongs” that rewarded failed economic policies. The Liberal Democrats described it as a “shameless move”.Campaigners called for urgent reform to the “rotten and out of control” peerage system and criticised the list which proposes a new peer for every day-and-a-half Ms Truss was in office.Former chief executive of the Vote Leave Brexit campaign Matthew ElliottAs well as the three peerages Ms Truss has nominated eight people to receive honours including MBEs, OBEs and knighthoods.The list attracted considerable controversy before it was even published due to the short-lived nature of Ms Truss‘ premiership and was pushed out by No 10 at the same time as a slew of separate honours late on Friday afternoon.Also on the list is the MP for Thurrock Jacqueline Doyle-Price who is recommended for a damehood following her service as Minister of State for Industry – a position she held from September 2022 to October 2022.Another of Ms Truss‘ colleagues, Alec Shelbrooke, MP for Elmet and Rothwell, has been recommended for a knighthood for his political service as Minister of State for Defence Procurement.Other honours in the list include Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for former special advisers Sophie Ina Jarvis and Shabbir Riyaz Merali, an OBE for Robert Butler, MP for Aylesbury, and Suzanne Webb, MP for Stourbridge, and a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for Conservative Association chairman in South West Norfolk David Hills.Novelist Shirley Ida Conran, who is also on the list, donated £5,000 to Ms Truss to support activity in her constituency, according to the public register of interest. Ms Conran will become a dame for her services to mathematics education as founder of the Maths Anxiety Trust.Tory donor Sir Jon MoynihanSince leaving No 10 Ms Truss has continued to defend her free-market economic ideas, despite her disastrous tenure as prime minister leading to chaos in the money markets.Following the publication of her resignation honours list, she said: “I am delighted these champions for the Conservative causes of freedom, limited government and a proud and sovereign Britain have been suitably honoured.”Deputy Liberal Democrat Leader Daisy Cooper MP said: “This shameless move to reward Liz Truss’s car crash cronies is matched only by Sunak’s weakness in failing to block it.“Truss handing out gongs after blowing a hole in the public finances and leaving families reeling from spiraling mortgage costs calls this whole honours system into disrepute.“The honours system should celebrate hard working people who have achieved great things; sullying this celebration shows just how out of touch this Conservative Government really is.”Jonathan Ashworth MP, Labour’s shadow cabinet office minister, said: “This list is proof positive of Rishi Sunak’s weakness and a slap in the face to working people who are paying the price of the Tories crashing the economy.Former prime minister Liz Truss and ex-chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng “Honours should be for those committed to public service, not rewards for Tory failure. Rather than apologise for crashing the economy and driving up mortgages rates, costing families thousands, Rishi Sunak has nodded through these tarnished gongs because he is too weak to lead a Tory party completely out of touch with working people.”Naomi Smith, Chief Executive of Best for Britain said: “The arrogance and incompetence of Liz Truss’ brief stint as Prime Minister caused unnecessary financial hardship for millions and was a national embarrassment. “Allowing her to bestow jobs for life to others who have caused serious harm to Britain can only increase mistrust and apathy in politics.”Willie Sullivan, senior director for campaigns at the Electoral Reform Society, said: “It will feel like an insult to many to see Liz Truss handing out peerages to friends and supporters after her disastrously short stint as prime minister. It looks like the political class dishing out rewards for failure at a time when many people are still suffering the effects from her turbulent premiership.“Liz Truss‘s resignation honours list also adds yet more peers to the House of Lords, which already has around 800 members making it the second largest legislative chamber in the world after China’s National People’s Congress.“This all highlights just how rotten and out of control the current peerages system is, and why it needs urgent reform to prevent it causing any more damage to the public’s trust in politics. It is clear this is not a fit nor proper way to choose who sits in our Parliament.“This is why we need to replace the bloated and unelected Lords with a smaller elected chamber where the people of this country, not former prime ministers, choose who sits in Parliament making the laws we all live under.” More