Keir Starmer ran the risk of being rebuked by Corbynites as he suggested that he might abandon the pledge he made in his leadership campaign to eliminate the House of Lords.
However, the Labour leader resisted the temptation to repeat the pledge and instead stated that the higher chamber “certainly requires change”.
He appeared also to disavow Jeremy Corbyn’s 2019 promise to prohibit MPs holding second jobs, with very few exceptions.
These comments were made after Sir Keir emerged from Covid self-isolation and was quizzed on BBC’s Andrew Marr.
Sir Keir was questioned about the reports that former treasurers of the Conservative Party were made peer, and the PM’s failed attempt to reform the standards system following the discovery by Owen Paterson that he had violated lobbying rules.
He claimed that Sunday Times’ claims showed the need for reform in the Lords.
He said, “Nobody can convince us that we don’t have to change,”
Sir Keir repeatedly pressed him on the question of whether he was still keen to abolish Lords.
Gordon Brown, former PM of Great Britain is heading a Commission that examines the future of the UK as well as institutions such the Lords.
Keir Starmer emphasized that he did not repeat the House of Lords’ commitment to abolise it, but instead stated that the House of Lords ‘certainly requires change’
Sir Keir made it clear that he would abolish the House of Lords in the contest for the presidency
The apparent shift from Sir Keir comes after he edged away from other left-wing elements of his leadership pitch – including taking utilities into public ownership
In 2019, Mr Corbyn promised that Labour would tighten its grip on outside work for MPs.
The manifesto stated that MPs would be prohibited from accepting second-hand jobs with limited exceptions for nursing and professional licensing.
Ed Miliband, then in charge of the UK, had a policy to limit ‘consultancies and directorships’.
Sir Keir said today that Labour was’saying for many long years’ that directorships and consultancies’should’ be ended.
He said, “We took it a step further this year to declare no second jobs with clear exceptions.”
But he said there was a ‘world of difference’ between cases like that of Mr Paterson and Rosena Allin-Khan, who does shifts as an A&E doctor alongside her Commons duties.
When Sir Keir was repeatedly asked if he wanted to abolish Lords (file photo), he replied: “I have said that we must change the House of Lords. I stand behind that.”