Abolish the Lords if it tries to block Brexit, ministers tell Theresa
CABINET ministers have urged Theresa May to threaten the House of Lords with a bloodbath if peers seek to frustrate Brexit.
Senior Tories say the Prime Minister should stand ready to threaten the Upper Chamber with abolition or a huge cut in numbers and powers.
Inside Whitehall, plans are being drawn up for responding to an expected Supreme Court ruling that a vote is needed in both Houses to trigger Article 50, launching the Brexit process.
The Lords has a pro-Remain majority, with Lib Dem and Labour members spoiling for a fight.
Two Cabinet ministers have told the Daily Mail that the Government must be prepared to respond with a major show of force to ensure the ‘will of the British people is respected’.
Mrs May is said to be sympathetic to the idea and ready to clip the wings of the Lords. One Cabinet minister said: ‘The Lords needs to understand that, if they block this, they will be bringing an existential crisis upon themselves.
‘Do they really want to do that? The case for major, major reform would become unanswerable.’
Another added: ‘We will be sending a one-line bill to the Lords on triggering Article 50.
‘If they send it back to the Commons, it should be returned with a second line added – the abolition of the Lords.’
The Supreme Court is due to rule this month on whether a vote of MPs is required.
If the Government loses its appeal, a law triggering Brexit would be pushed through the Commons in just five days.
Ministers have then allowed two months for a bill to pass through the Lords. This would give the unelected peers an opportunity to block Brexit for up to a year, throwing No 10’s timetable into turmoil.
In November, ministers put plans that would curb the House of Lords’ power to block legislation on hold.
But Lords leader Baroness Evans warned that, if peers did not maintain ‘discipline’ in employing the rarely used power, ‘we would have to reflect on this decision’.
If they did seek to frustrate the Article 50 process, the plans could be revived.
The Tories could then threaten to go further by dramatically reducing the number of peers in the Upper Chamber, most likely including the move in the party’s next election manifesto.
Some MPs believe that, if the Lords was willing to stand its ground on blocking Article 50, Mrs May could be forced to hold an election early next year.
In effect, the Lords would be facing the prospect of bringing about immediate – and drastic – reform upon themselves.
Whitehall insiders believe the Government’s appeal to the Supreme Court went better than
‘Will of the people is respected’
expected, but senior figures still believe defeat is most likely.
On the final day of the court case, the Supreme Court judges were urged by the Government not to ignore the ‘highly significant’ views of Parliament.
While the four-day court hearing was taking place, the Commons delivered a 372-vote majority in favour of triggering Article 50 by the end of March.
Jean-Claude Juncker blocked EU countries from bringing in rules to stop multinational firms avoiding tax, leaked documents reveal.
The European Commission president is alleged to have repeatedly vetoed measures designed to prevent companies moving between EU nations to lower tax bills while Luxembourg’s PM. Diplomatic cables show his actions helped bolster the country as a business hub.
Luxembourg’s finance ministry told the Guardian it had ‘no knowledge’ of the communications. Mr Juncker’s office did not comment.