BBC Sir Keir Starmer believes Lord Mandelson should not be a member of the House of Lords, or use his title, Downing Street has said. The prime minister has ordered an "urgent" investigation into Lord Mandelson's contact with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein while the peer was a government minister. The review comes after another tranche of documents were released, showing the former Labour minister's close relationship with Epstein.
Pressure is mounting on the UK government to introduce a ban on social media for under-16s, after a decisive vote in House of Lords in favour of Australian-style restrictions. Peers backed a Tory-led amendment to the children's wellbeing and schools bill by 261 votes to 150, despite the government opposing the move. Ministers are already considering a ban as part of a consultation due to report by the summer and so the Lords amendment is unlikely to pass in the Commons.
The House of Lords used to have a complete veto on the Commons. That changed after a row over the blocking of the then chancellor David Lloyd George's budget in 1909. It sparked a general election, with Lords reform on the ballot. The re-elected Liberal government passed the Parliament Act 1911, stripping that veto power in almost all circumstances, though it does allow delay. In 1949, that delaying power was reduced to a year.
In opposition, Sir Keir Starmer called the unelected House of Lords indefensible. This week, barely 18 months into his prime ministership, Sir Keir took the total of unelected peers he has appointed since July 2024 to 96. Remarkably, Wednesday's 34 new life peerages, mainly Labour supporters, take his appointment total above those of each of his four most recent Conservative predecessors. You must go back to David Cameron to find a prime minister who did more to stuff the Lords than Sir Keir.
The government has U-turned on its manifesto commitment to offer all workers protection against unfair dismissal from their first day in a job. Ministers now plan to introduce the right after six months instead, following concerns from business groups. The government argued it was making the climbdown to stop its employment legislation being delayed in the House of Lords, where it has run into opposition.
Lord Strathcarron is proposing amendments that would scrap the central provision of the tobacco and vapes bill, originally proposed by Rishi Sunak's government. If the bill is passed in its original form, the UK would become only the second country to implement a so-called generational smoking ban, making it illegal to sell tobacco to anyone born after 2008. Strathcarron's proposal is to simply raise the legal purchase age from 18 to 21.
Hospices are on the brink and two in five are making cuts this year despite the importance of end-of-life care if assisted dying becomes legal, the sector has warned before the first House of Lords debate on the legislation. Hospice UK, which represents the sector, said many were financially struggling and still in the dark about how funding for end-of-life care will be improved when assisted dying legislation is passed.
Polling indicates that only 3% of respondents support the government's plan to change the House of Lords by removing hereditary peers. Instead, 56% believe there should be limits on prime ministerial appointments for life.
