The Government does not know when Peter Mandelson will be removed from the House of Lords, despite bringing in a new bill to sack disgraced peers.
Speaking from the House of Lords throne this morning, the King said ministers will ‘introduce legislation to enable peerages to be removed’.
The government pledged to bring the change in following the rows about both Peter Mandelson and former spin doctor Matthew Doyle.
But while the new ‘Removal of Peerages Bill’ will now be brought in, Government sources confirmed they do not know how long it will take to remove Lord Mandelson and others.
Under current rules, to remove a member of the House of Lords the government must bring in bespoke legislation for each person it wants to remove, unlike in the Commons, where there are more modern mechanisms for kicking out an MP.
And while Peers can be removed from the Lords for a number of reasons, including non-attendance, they continue to hold the title of Baron or Baroness.
The government said today that it is ‘unacceptable’ that disgraced peers ‘are able to retain their peerages, regardless of circumstances’.
Peter Mandelson is set to have his peerage stripped
The Government could not say when the new process will be implemented
Details about the process for removing a peerage are also vague, with promises from the government that it will put the process in the hands of the House of Lords itself.
The government source added they would ‘not be surprised’ if some members of the Lords try delaying the Bill with amendments, despite the risk of being branded ‘nonce apologists’.
However they said the Government does want to see Peter Mandelson out ‘immediately’ and hope to get the Bill implemented ‘pretty swiftly’.
It’s believed that the new mechanism will echo some of the processes used by the House of Commons to remove MPs, with the behaviour committee given a role in processing removals.
But opponents of the Bill say they fear the changes could allow a government to remove political opponents in the House of Lords on more spurious grounds.
Former spin doctor Matthew Doyle is also set to lose his peerage
Keir Starmer first pledged the legislation in February
The Government first pledged to bring in the changes in February, with Sir Keir Starmer revealing he had instructed his team to draft the legislation.
It was then pledged again days later when former senior aide Matthew Doyle, who had been a peer since December, after he lost the whip over a friendship with Sean Morton, who was charged with possessing indecent images of children.
Lord Doyle campaigned for Mr Morton after he had been charged.
Regardless of how long it takes for the Bill to come into force, it’s likely Lord Doyle will go down as the shortest serving member of the Lords since Tony Blair’s 1999 reforms.
Other peers are also on the line to lose their position in the upper house, including Baroness Michelle Mone, after she was ordered to repay £122m to the Government for breaching a Covid PPE contract.
According to the notes published alongside the King’s Speech this morning, the Removal of Peerages Bill will ‘serve to protect the integrity of the peerage system and uphold standards in public life’.
Hannah White, the CEO of the Institute for Government, said: ‘The Mandelson case demonstrates why – for the good of public trust in parliament – it is important for the House of Lords to have a mechanism to remove peerages.’
