Peers with EU pensions

Daily Mail 20th Feb 2017

The peers in the pocket of Europe: Mandy, Kinnock and Co are told to declare their lavish EU pensions before they try to derail Brexit in the Lords

• More than 20 peers who worked in Brussels built up lavish EU pensions  
• They include Labour’s Lord Mandelson who will receive almost £35,000 a year  
• Yesterday he urged fellow peers not to ‘throw in the towel’ on Brexit despite clear Commons vote in favour of Bill allowing Theresa May to trigger Article 50

Peers with generous EU retirement packages were last night urged to declare them publicly before intervening in this week’s Lords debate on the Brexit Bill. More than 20 peers who worked in Brussels built up lavish EU pensions.

They include Labour’s Lord Mandelson who will receive almost £35,000 a year thanks to his former job as trade commissioner. Yesterday he urged his fellow peers not to ‘throw in the towel’ on Brexit despite the clear Commons vote in favour of the Bill allowing Theresa May to trigger Article 50 – the formal mechanism for leaving the EU.

The former Cabinet minister suggested that he hoped the Lords would inflict a series of defeats on the Government as the Bill passes through the Upper House. But campaigners said peers with EU pensions should publicly declare an interest. They claim many in the Lords fear they could lose their entitlements if Britain goes for a ‘hard Brexit’ and fails to agree an amicable deal with the EU.

The pro-Brexit group Change Britain said the combined pension pots of former MEPs and EU commissioners in the Lords added up to £10.2million, giving payouts worth more than £500,000 a year in total.

Ex-Tory minister Dominic Raab said these peers had a vested interest in thwarting Brexit and should be honest about their intentions. Peers will debate the Bill today and tomorrow before amendments are considered next week. The Bill was passed overwhelmingly by MPs without any amendments. But the Lords, where the Government lacks a majority, are considered much more likely to pass two main amendments. One would require a ‘meaningful’ parliamentary vote on the final Brexit deal. Mrs May has said there will be a ‘take it or leave it’ vote – if Parliament votes against, the UK would leave the EU without any deal at all.

Full story here.