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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.

Brexit white paper holiday error

Fullfact.org reported a mistake in the White Paper,

MPs seem to get far more than 14 weeks off, so they would have no reason to query it.

Source.

Farage jape

Yesterday's DPols discussed Labour MEP Seb Dance's five minutes of fame when he held up a page of A4 with a very neatly printed "HE'S LYING TO YOU" behind Nigel Farage holding forth on the failings of the EU parliament. Matthew Parris, the wee scamp, guesting on the show, made his own sign for Andrew Neil, not nearly as neat, inscribed, "HE'S ALWAYS RIGHT".

Analysis of Labour A50 rebels

I have spent the day charting an analysis of the Labour MPs who voted against Article 50. The factors listed are:

• Referendum result. Note that not all the results were reported to constituency level and so in some cases (marked with an *), the area for the containing area is shown.
• The percentage vote for Leave (* ibid).
• Majority at the last election.
• Loyalty rating.

Date sources:
Wikipedia brexit results
Wikipedia list of constituences
LabourList Loyalty rankings

Comments to follow.

The Brexit White Paper

77 pages, available here.

Here's Mrs. May's foreward,

We do not approach these negotiations expecting failure, but anticipating success. Because we are a great, global nation with so much to offer Europe and so much to offer the world. One of the world’s largest and strongest economies. With the finest intelligence services, the bravest armed forces, the most effective hard and soft power, and friendships, partnerships and alliances in every continent. And another thing that’s important. The essential ingredient of our success. The strength and support of 65 million people willing us to make it happen. Because after all the division and discord, the country is coming together. The referendum was divisive at times. And those divisions have taken time to heal. But one of the reasons that Britain’s democracy has been such a success for so many years is that the strength of our identity as one nation, the respect we show to one another as fellow citizens, and the importance we attach to our institutions means that when a vote has been held we all respect the result. The victors have the responsibility to act magnanimously. The losers have the responsibility to respect the legitimacy of the outcome. And the country comes together. And that is what we are seeing today. Business isn’t calling to reverse the result, but planning to make a success of it. The House of Commons has voted overwhelmingly for us to get on with it. And the overwhelming majority of people – however they voted – want us to get on with it too. So that is what we will do. Not merely forming a new partnership with Europe, but building a stronger, fairer, more Global Britain too. And let that be the legacy of our time. The prize towards which we work. The destination at which we arrive once the negotiation is done. And let us do it not for ourselves, but for those who follow. For the country’s children and grandchildren too. So that when future generations look back at this time, they will judge us not only by the decision that we made, but by what we made of that decision. They will see that we shaped them a brighter future. They will know that we built them a better Britain.”

From the BBC.

Votes against Article 50

From Huffington Post

Jeremy Corbyn suffered a significant rebellion against his order to vote for Brexit on Wednesday evening, as a quarter of Labour MPs voted against triggering Article 50.
The European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill, which will allow Theresa May to start the Brexit process, cleared its first parliamentary hurdle by a vote in the Commons of 498 to 114.
The Labour leader saw 47 of his MPs (full list here) rebel against a three-line whip and vote against triggering Article 50 - while 167 backed his position.
Ahead of the vote, two more of Corbyn’s frontbench team quit in order to allow them to freely defy the leadership.
Shadow environment secretary Rachael Maskell and shadow equalities minister Dawn Butler both resigned. Shadow Welsh secretary Jo Stevens had already quit, as had shadow minister for early years Tulip Siddiq.
Several other frontbenchers chose to oppose Brexit, taking the risk they will be sacked from their jobs.
The Labour leader’s team said any decision to sack rebels will be “taken at a later stage”.
Diane Abbott, the shadow home secretary and close ally of Corbyn, missed the vote due to illness, her office said.
SNP MPs and seven of the nine Lib Dem MPs also voted against triggering Article 50.


Heidi Alexander (Lewisham East)
Rushanara Ali (Bethnal Green and Bow)
Graham Allen (Nottingham North)
Rosena Allin-Khan (Tooting)
Luciana Berger (Liverpool, Wavertree)
Ben Bradshaw (Exeter)
Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West)
Lyn Brown (West Ham)
Chris Bryant (Rhondda)
Karen Buck (Westminster North)
Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent Central)
Ruth Cadbury (Brentford and Isleworth)
Ann Clwyd (Cynon Valley)
Ann Coffey (Stockport)
Neil Coyle (Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Mary Creagh (Wakefield)
Stella Creasy (Walthamstow)
Thangam Debbonaire (Bristol West)
Stephen Doughty (Cardiff South and Penarth)
Jim Dowd (Lewisham West and Penge)
Maria Eagle (Garston and Halewood)
Louise Ellman (Liverpool, Riverside)
Paul Farrelly (Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Vicky Foxcroft (Lewisham, Deptford)
Mike Gapes (Ilford South)
Lilian Greenwood (Nottingham South)
Helen Hayes (Dulwich and West Norwood)
Meg Hillier (Hackney South and Shoreditch)
Rupa Huq (Ealing Central and Acton)
Peter Kyle (Hove)
David Lammy (Tottenham)
Rachael Maskell (York Central)
Kerry McCarthy (Bristol East)
Catherine McKinnell (Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Madeleine Moon (Bridgend)
Ian Murray (Edinburgh South)
Stephen Pound (Ealing North)
Virendra Sharma (Ealing, Southall)
Tulip Siddiq (Hampstead and Kilburn)
Andy Slaughter (Hammersmith)
Jeff Smith (Manchester, Withington)
Owen Smith (Pontypridd)
Jo Stevens (Cardiff Central)
Stephen Timms (East Ham)
Catherine West (Hornsey and Wood Green)
Alan Whitehead (Southampton, Test)
Daniel Zeichner (Cambridge)