Government urged not to ‘bully’ elderly peers

Peers risk being victims of "institutional bullying" by the government due to the heavy workload in the House of Lords, it has been claimed.

Several sittings have run late into the evening, including a near 13-hour day until 3.22am last month, as ministers attempted to get parliamentary approval for key pieces of complex legislation.

Labour's Lord Griffiths of Burry Port, 80, said some peers have "struggled with the heavy legislative programme" and he complained it was unfair to keep them until the early hours, given their age.

He added a more civilised approach should be adopted for the scheduling of Lords business to avoid such lengthy days.

As of January 19, the average age of peers was 71.

Lord Griffiths, speaking during a debate on digital technology and trust, said the leadership of the UK leaves "much to be desired in terms of integrity, honesty and openness".

He told peers: "I see some of the demands that have been made on members of this House to be almost institutional bullying.

"To keep them until 3.30 at our age debating matters which for an extra parliamentary day could have been done in a more civilised way, there's no point in shrugging it off or frowning about it, I've seen the result in some of the members of this House as day after day, week after week they've struggled with the heavy legislative programme that has been imposed upon us."

The controversial Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill has been among the pieces of legislation to receive several days of lineby-line scrutiny.