Sir Keir Starmer has pledged to abolish the House of Lords in his first term if he is elected prime minister.
Speaking to Sky News, the Labour leader confirmed his party “do want to abolish the House of Lords“, adding that he does not think anybody could “defend” the institution.
Sir Keir told Kay Burley: “It’s one of the recommendations, as you know, in today’s report.
“What we’re going to do after today is now consult on those recommendations, test them, and in particular, look at how can they be implemented.”
Sir Keir unveils Brown’s ‘blueprint’ for Labour government – politics latest
Asked if it is his hope the House of Lords will be abolished within his first term as prime minister, Sir Keir replied: “Yes, I do.
“Because what I asked when I asked Gordon Brown to set up the commission to do this, I said what I want is recommendations that are capable of being implemented in the first term.”
He added: “We’re going to get one shot at fixing our economy and fixing our politics and I want to make sure we get it exactly right.”
But Tory peer Lord Norton has urged caution over proposed reform to parliament’s second chamber after suggestions it should be replaced with elected representatives.
“One has to be wary of some Big Bang reform, grand reform, which often takes the form of displacement activity – the nation’s got problems, people must come up with constitutional reform because it’s a fairly simple, straightforward proposal, rather than actually getting down to the real issues,” he told Times Radio.
Asked if he will continue to nominate peers to the House of Lords, as Labour unveiled plans to abolish the upper chamber, Sir Keir later told the PA news agency: “Everyone wants a functioning House of Lords until it is abolished and replaced by a second chamber.”
The proposal forms part of Labour’s blueprint for a “New Britain”, outlined in the report of its commission on the UK’s future – headed by former PM Gordon Brown.
Unveiling the report at a joint press conference with Sir Keir in Leeds, Mr Brown said the work is proposing “the biggest transfer of power out of Westminster and Whitehall” that “our country has seen”.
Sir Keir told the audience: “You are being held back. Held back by a system that hoards power in Westminster.
“A system which smugly thinks it knows what skills, transport, planning and job support West Yorkshire needs better than the people who live here.
“I’ve long been convinced that this broken model has held back our politics and held back our economy. And I’m determined we unbind ourselves and free our potential.”
The report on the UK’s future, commissioned two years ago, also makes the following recommendations:
• Handing new economic, taxation and law-making powers to mayors and devolved governments
• Sweeping constitutional reform in an attempt to “clean up politics”
• Banning almost all second jobs for MPs
• Moving 50,000 civil servants – 10% of the workforce – out of London
• Developing 300 “economic clusters” around the country – from precision medicine in Glasgow to creative media in Bristol and Bath – with the aim of doubling growth in the UK
• Extra powers for Scotland and Wales, with restored and strengthened devolution in Northern Ireland
• A new culture of co-operation between the UK government, England’s regions, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
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Elsewhere in his morning broadcast media round, Sir Keir said he does not want to abolish private schools, but argued their existing tax breaks cannot be “justified”.
He also said he does not believe returning to the single market would boost the UK’s economic growth – but added that he believes there is a case for a “better Brexit”.
Meanwhile, probed on whether former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn could be readmitted to the party, Sir Keir told BBC Radio Four’s Today programme: “I don’t see the circumstances in which he will stand at the next election as a Labour MP.”
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A government source said: “This report highlights what we already know about Labour – that while the government is focusing on the major issues people care about, Keir Starmer is playing politics with topics only relevant in Westminster.”