Lloyd-Webber’s despair over the Lords ‘wreckers’
ANDREW Lloyd-Webber yesterday launched a scathing attack on diehard Remainers in the House of Lords for trying to block Brexit.
The composer, who was made a Tory peer in 1997, said he was horrified by the anti-democratic behaviour of his fellow peers, despite having backed Remain in the 2016 referendum.
Lord Lloyd-Webber stepped down from active participation in the Lords last year because of pressure of work.
Yesterday he said he was also concerned by the growing politicisation of the Lords, which has been stuffed with former MPs and political hacks in recent years.
‘I was a Remainer but I don’t think that would have been an issue for me,’ he told the BBC’s Andrew Marr show. ‘I don’t think you can possibly be part of an unelected House and vote against the will of the people. That seems to me to be wrong.’
Asked about his decision to step down from an active role in the Lords last year, Lord LloydWebber said: ‘I felt the House of Lords had become very political. I joined 20 years ago and it was a very different place.’
The House of Lords has faced mounting criticism in recent weeks for its repeated opposition to Brexit.
Peers defeated the Government 15 times over the EU Withdrawal Bill, with some ministers privately describing some of the changes as ‘wrecking amendments’. Peers passed amendments designed to keep the UK in the customs union and single market, despite these being explicitly ruled out in the Tory manifesto – leading to criticism that they had broken the longstanding convention that the Lords must not meddle in the election promises of the governing party.
The Lords also passed an amendment allowing parliament to send Theresa May back to negotiations if MPs and peers do not like the final deal – a move which critics warn would dramatically weaken her hand in talks with Brussels.