PEERS IN POCKET OF EUROPE
Lords told to declare fat EU pensions ahead of their debate on Brexit
PEERS with generous EU retirement packages were last night urged to declare them publicly before intervening in this week’s Lords debate on the Brexit Bill.
More than 20 peers who worked in Brussels built up lavish EU pensions.
They include Labour’s Lord Mandelson who will receive almost £35,000 a year thanks to his former job as trade commissioner.
Yesterday he urged his fellow peers not to ‘throw in the towel’ on Brexit despite the clear Commons vote in favour of the Bill allowing Theresa May to trigger Article 50 – the formal mechanism for leaving the EU.
The former Cabinet minister suggested that he hoped the Lords would inflict a series of defeats on the Government as the Bill passes through the Upper House.
But campaigners said peers with EU pensions should publicly declare an interest. They claim many in the Lords fear they could lose their entitlements if Britain goes for a ‘hard Brexit’ and fails to agree an amicable deal with the EU.
The pro-Brexit group Change Britain said the combined pension pots of former MEPs and EU commissioners in the Lords added up to £10.2million, giving payouts worth more than £500,000 a year in total. Ex-Tory minister Dominic Raab said these peers had a vested interest in thwarting Brexit and should be honest about their intentions.
Peers will debate the Bill today and tomorrow before amendments are considered next week. The Bill was passed overwhelmingly by MPs without any amendments.
But the Lords, where the Government lacks a majority, are considered much more likely to pass two main amendments.
One would require a ‘meaningful’ parliamentary vote on the final Brexit deal. Mrs May has said there will be a ‘take it or leave it’ vote – if Parliament votes against, the UK would leave the EU without any deal at all.
Peers headed by Lord Pannick, the QC who opposed the Government in the Article 50 case at the Supreme Court, want to have a vote earlier in the process and for Mrs May to have to go back to Brussels to renegotiate if her first deal is rejected.
The second amendment is to guarantee the rights of EU nationals living in the UK.
Lord Mandelson told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show there was a ‘strong body of opinion’ among peers over both issues and in his view the Government could be defeated on them.
He said: ‘ At the end of the day, the House of Commons must prevail because it is the elected chamber. But I hope the House of Lords will not throw in the towel early.’
His intervention comes days after Tony Blair was accused of undermining democracy by urging sup-
‘He is a blast from the past’
porters to ‘rise up’ against Brexit. Justice Secretary Liz Truss said Lord Mandelson was a ‘blast from the past’ who should accept the EU referendum verdict.
Yesterday Lord Mandelson did not mention his pension as a former EU trade commissioner.
Mr Raab said: ‘Lords with generous EU pension pots should be open with the British people and declare this when they speak in Parliament on Brexit. The public would be rightly outraged if peers voted to protect their Brussels bonuses rather than respect the referendum result.’
A poll last night found that support for Lords reform would soar if peers obstruct or delay Brexit.
The ICM survey for Change Britain said 43 per cent are more likely to back abolition or reform in such circumstances, compared to 12 per cent who would be less likely.
Despite this, Labour peer Lord Hain vowed to force votes on such issues as forcing Mrs May to keep Britain in the single market.
LIKE an 18th Century aristocrat planning a last stand against the peasantry, Labour’s Lord Mandelson calls on his fellow Peers to help him sabotage the Brexit Bill when it comes before the Upper House this week.
This snake-tongued former minister – twice sacked for dishonesty – claims he is not trying to overturn the referendum result or interfere with the decision of the Commons. In silken tones, he protests that all he wants is to introduce safeguards, guaranteeing the future of EU nationals living in the UK and ensuring Parliament’s right to demand further talks if the agreed terms of Brexit are unsatisfactory.
Yet Lord Mandelson knows any premature promises to EU citizens would rob ministers of a powerful negotiating card, while letting MPs block any deal could scupper withdrawal altogether.
Isn’t this precisely what he and Tony Blair, his comrade-in-arms and fellow moneygrubber, hope to achieve?
Meanwhile, let’s not forget that Lord Mandelson – like more than two dozen other Remainer Peers – has his snout buried deep in the Brussels trough. As a former European Commissioner he has an EU pension pot estimated at £672,868 – while Lord and Lady Kinnock have nest eggs valued at more than £2million between them. What’s more, Commissioners have to swear a lifelong oath of loyalty to the EU, or risk losing their pensions.
In the Lords debate, shouldn’t Remainers with such personal financial interests in championing our membership be forced to declare them? It will be an affront to democracy if this unelected House of cronies, dodgy donors and washed-up members of the political class conspires to frustrate Brexit. If Peers value the survival of their House, they will ignore Lord Mandelson and Mr Blair.