Gordon Brown has urged Keir Starmer not to abandon his pledge to abolish the House of Lords, warning that a leaked plan to flood the chamber with dozens of Conservative peers proves the need for drastic reform. The former Labour prime minister said the proposal, drawn up by lobbying group CT Group for Boris Johnson, would 'legitimise straightforward bribery' by rewarding loyal votes with honours and positions.
Nicknamed 'Operation Homer', the plan recommended appointing up to 50 new Tory peers to push through contentious legislation, including the Northern Ireland protocol bill. It suggested using the cover of 'levelling up' to appoint peers from under-represented regions, calling it the 'perfect excuse' to ensure loyalist lawmakers are ennobled.
Writing in the Guardian, Brown said the proposal 'makes no bones about the defenestrated prime minister’s aim to pack the House of Lords' and would amount to 'gerrymandering'. He called on Starmer to revive his 2020 leadership pledge to abolish the unelected chamber, warning that the current appointments system 'calls into question the unfettered patronage of the prime minister'.
Starmer has faced accusations of backtracking on the commitment, having said last November he would 'change' the Lords rather than abolish it. A Labour spokesperson said Starmer has asked Brown to lead a review of the UK constitution, which will report later this year and 'set out the options for change'.
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar also backed abolition, saying the Lords 'has no place in 21st-century politics'. CT Group said the document was an early working draft for a thinktank and not circulated beyond a small group.
