{"id":4877,"date":"2024-03-20T09:18:04","date_gmt":"2024-03-20T09:18:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/03\/20\/we-need-to-go-hard-why-britains-lords-are-clashing-with-sunak\/"},"modified":"2024-03-20T09:18:05","modified_gmt":"2024-03-20T09:18:05","slug":"we-need-to-go-hard-why-britains-lords-are-clashing-with-sunak","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/03\/20\/we-need-to-go-hard-why-britains-lords-are-clashing-with-sunak\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018We Need to Go Hard\u2019: Why Britain\u2019s Lords Are Clashing With Sunak"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1050\" height=\"550\" src=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/03\/20\/multimedia\/20uk-lords-1-pcqv\/20uk-lords-1-pcqv-facebookJumbo.jpg?fit=1050,550&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"\u2018We Need to Go Hard\u2019: Why Britain\u2019s Lords Are Clashing With Sunak\" title=\"\u2018We Need to Go Hard\u2019: Why Britain\u2019s Lords Are Clashing With Sunak\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">For the House of Lords, the unelected counterpart to the House of Commons, Wednesday could mark a rare moment in Britain\u2019s politics: The ermine-robed barons and baronesses of that ancient chamber will vote on whether to defy an elected British prime minister over a flagship policy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Lords are scheduled to hold a pivotal debate on the policy, which would put asylum seekers on one-way flights to Rwanda. They have attached <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/bills.parliament.uk\/publications\/54725\/documents\/4590\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">multiple amendments<\/a> to the bill in an attempt to water it down; the government, with its hefty Conservative majority in the Commons, has systematically stripped them off.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Nobody, least of all the Lords themselves, believes that the upper chamber will ultimately torpedo the legislation. In the unequal clash between the elected Commons and the unelected Lords, the Lords invariably yield. But they could delay its passage by another week or two, which could be enough to jeopardize Prime Minister Rishi Sunak\u2019s goal of putting the first flight to Rwanda in the air by the end of May.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">That would thrust the House of Lords into election-year politics in Britain in a way that is unusual for an institution that views itself as a coolheaded, deliberative check on the more unruly Commons.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The prospect of sending asylum seekers to an East African country \u2014 and overruling a Supreme Court judgment \u2014 has generated so much opposition, even from Conservative peers, that it has shaken the Lords out of their customary deference.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThis is about people having a fundamental objection to a piece of government legislation,\u201d said Simon McDonald, a former head of the British diplomatic service who became a cross-bench, or nonpartisan, member of the House of Lords, where he is known as Baron McDonald of Salford, in 2021.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cPersonally, I would be disappointed if we just gave in,\u201d he said. \u201cFor me, we need to go hard on conditions that have to be met before the act is put into force.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Rwanda\u2019s government, Mr. McDonald said, needed to demonstrate that it had put safeguards in place to ensure that the rights of asylum seekers who arrived there from Britain were not violated. Several of the Lords\u2019 amendments are designed to do that, but the government has rejected them on the grounds that they are simply another legal hurdle to block the flights from starting.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">For the government, timing matters. Mr. Sunak has championed the Rwanda policy as the best way to deter migrants who make the perilous crossing of the English Channel in small boats. Under the legislation, they would stay in the African nation even if they won refugee status.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Stopping those Channel crossings is one of his government\u2019s five bedrock goals, and Mr. Sunak hopes the flights will help the Conservatives close a yawning gap in opinion polls with the opposition Labour Party.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But the policy has run headlong into concerns about human rights and the rule of law, which have agitated the normally equable Lords. The Supreme Court <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/11\/15\/world\/europe\/uk-rwanda-deportation-supreme-court.html\" title=\"\">ruled in November<\/a> that Rwanda was not a safe country for refugees, prompting the government to retool the policy to address those concerns \u2014 insufficiently, in the view of critics.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Several of the chamber\u2019s members are retired judges and civil servants who view themselves as custodians of the courts and Britain\u2019s adherence to international law. They are using the levers they have to force the government to remedy the legislation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThe way the Lords operates, like so much of the British Constitution, is by convention rather than by rules,\u201d said Richard Newby, the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party in the House of Lords. \u201cThe question is how far you push a convention rather than whether you break a rule.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Newby predicted Mr. Sunak\u2019s conservative government would not muster the votes of enough members on Wednesday to force the Lords to back down on the amendments. That means the bill would be kicked back to the Commons, most likely with fewer amendments.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The resulting back-and-forth could prevent the bill from becoming law until after the Easter holiday. Mr. Sunak has appealed to the Lords not to \u201cfrustrate the will of the people,\u201d although <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.britishfuture.org\/public-backs-lords-in-clash-with-government-on-rwanda-bill-new-poll\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">recent polling<\/a> suggests a majority of the British public do not support the policy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The largest legislative assembly outside China, the House of Lords has some 800 members, including 91 who inherited titles, and 26 archbishops and bishops. Its ranks include former politicians, advisers and diplomats; most are appointed for life.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Lords meet in an ornate chamber that, on busy days, has too few seats. Among them stands a gilded throne, inset with rock crystals and upholstered in red velvet, from which King Charles III speaks when he opens Parliament.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Members, who can shape laws and ask questions without the inconvenience of running for office, can claim up to 342 pounds, or $435, as a daily allowance. There are other perks, too: a desk in the Parliament complex; a parking lot; and plush, subsidized places to eat and drink, including the wood-paneled Bishops\u2019 Bar.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But the members work, too.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThe Lords is the place where you get effective scrutiny,\u201d said Jill Rutter, a senior research fellow at U.K. in a Changing Europe, a research institute. \u201cThe Commons gave the Rwanda bill virtually no scrutiny because it went through very quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThe problem,\u201d she added, \u201cis that the Lords basically knows it\u2019s a ludicrous and illegitimate institution, which is why it almost always caves.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Still, even within these constraints, the chamber can influence and even change policy. In 2015, the Lords persuaded the government to rethink cuts to welfare payments. Only last week, it was the prospect of defeat over an amendment to a bill in the Lords that prompted the government to pledge new rules barring foreign state ownership of British newspapers and magazines.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">David Lipsey, a Labour member of the Lords, said he expected his party to press for about half a dozen amendments. He said it was \u201cpretty unlikely\u201d that Labour would keep up its opposition after Wednesday, even though there was a case for doing so.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThe Lords has always had the backstop role in stopping governments doing things that are beyond the bounds of democratic and legal decision-making,\u201d said Mr. Lipsey, who became a member in 1999 as Baron Lipsey of Tooting Bec.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">While Labour\u2019s double-digit polling lead means it is likely to form the next government, the party\u2019s leaders know that, if elected, they would not have an automatic majority in a chamber where many members are nonaligned.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cLabour doesn\u2019t particularly want to establish the precedent that it\u2019s OK for the Lords to chuck out a flagship piece of government legislation because there may be things they want to do,\u201d Ms. Rutter said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The election, most likely set for this fall, has given nonaligned members pause as well. Some worry about being painted as obstructionists by the government, which could seize on the unelected body as a weapon in a campaign. Others worry about constitutional reforms that could threaten their status.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, spoke out strongly against an earlier version of the Rwanda bill last year, saying it \u201cfails to live up to our history, our moral responsibility and our political and international interests.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But in an interview last December, he said, \u201cI would like to play as small a role as possible in the debate. We\u2019re within a year of an election.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For the House of Lords, the unelected counterpart to the House of Commons, Wednesday could mark a rare moment in Britain\u2019s politics: The ermine-robed barons and baronesses of that ancient chamber will vote on whether to defy an elected British prime minister over a flagship policy. The Lords are scheduled to hold a pivotal debate [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4878,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/03\/20\/multimedia\/20uk-lords-1-pcqv\/20uk-lords-1-pcqv-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[8243,8244,8242,6177,1031],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4877"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4877"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4877\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4879,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4877\/revisions\/4879"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4878"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4877"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4877"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4877"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}