Sir Keir Starmer has nominated his former top adviser Sue Gray for a life peerage.

Ms Gray, whose report into the partygate scandal contributed to the downfall of former prime minister Boris Johnson, is among several new Labour peerages that have been announced.

The former civil servant left her role as Sir Keir’s chief of staff in October following an internal power struggle in Downing Street.

She was then appointed to a newly created nations and regions position within Number 10, however, it was confirmed in November that she would not be taking up the role.

Back in 2022, Labour unveiled proposals to abolish House of Lords and to replace it with a “reformed upper chamber”.

However, ahead of the general election this year, the plans were scaled back – with Sir Keir instead pledging to remove the 92 hereditary peers and to introduce an age cap of 80.

It is understood Sir Keir has made the nominations in an attempt to tilt the balance towards Labour in the second chamber.

During the 14 years the Conservatives were in power, the number of Tory peers rose to 273 while there are 187 Labour peers, 78 Liberal Democrat peers and 184 crossbenchers, who are not affiliated to any political party.

Other notable names that have been nominated include:

• Carwyn Jones – former first minister of Wales

• Dame Thérèse Coffey – former deputy prime minister

• Toby Young – founder and director of the Free Speech Union, and an associate editor of The Spectator.

• And Thangam Debonnaire – former shadow cabinet minister who lost her seat unexpectedly at the general election

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The Met Office is urging people to prepare for “disruptive weather” this weekend as Christmas holidays begin. 

Yellow warnings for wind have been issued and parts of the UK could be hit by gusts of up to 85mph.

An area of low pressure will cross the far north of the UK on Saturday bringing rain and strong winds across large parts of the country, the Met Office said.

The first wind warning covers Scotland, much of Northern Ireland, north Wales and north-west England between 7am and midnight on Saturday.

A second is in place between midnight and 9pm on Sunday, covering Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and all of western England.

“Dangerous coastal conditions” are expected, the Met Office warned, with large waves an additional hazard.

Road, rail, air and ferry services in Scotland are all likely to be affected by the weather conditions, Transport Scotland said.

Get the five-day forecast where you are

Rebekah Hicks, Met Office deputy chief meteorologist, said: “This period of disruptive weather coincides with a busy period on UK roads as the festive getaway starts for many.

“The area of low pressure will bring rain and strong winds on Saturday, with a chance of significant disruption especially to transport networks across the north, including the potential for ferry cancellations.

“The strongest winds are expected across northern Scotland on Saturday afternoon and evening, with the potential for gusts of 80 to 85mph in coastal districts.

“The strong winds will be more widespread on Sunday with gusts of 50 to 60mph across much of northern, central and western UK, locally higher for coasts and across high ground.”

It comes as drivers have been warned of a “pre-Christmas panic” on the roads and record levels of traffic.

Motorists have been urged not to travel on major routes for six hours on both Friday and Saturday to avoid the worst of the Christmas holiday traffic.

The RAC and transport analytics company Inrix said roads are likely to be busiest between 1pm and 7pm on those days.

Hotspots where queues are expected include the M3 between its junction with the M25 and the south coast, the M25 anticlockwise between its junctions with the M1 and the M23, and the M53 from Chester to Liverpool.

Will it be a white Christmas?

The wintry weather conditions are expected to turn more settled from the start of next week.

Winds will ease, but there will be further rain or drizzle moving east across the UK on Monday night, the Met Office said.

Christmas Eve will be a mild, blustery day with further rain or drizzle at times in the west and the best chance of sunny spells in the east.

It will be mostly cloudy and dry on Christmas Day, although strong winds and spells of rain are likely in the far north.

Temperatures are expected to be widely very mild, with the chance of settling snow looking slim.

The mother of a young man crushed to death in a work accident has said her son was “full of hopes and dreams” and his family has been “robbed” of sharing in those with him.

Labourer Liam MacDonald, 23, was using a hammer to chip away dried concrete from a skip at a Shetland Islands wind farm site when its bale arm fell on top of him, pinning his chest.

Principal contractor BAM Nuttall has been fined a total of £860,000 after admitting health and safety breaches.

Mr MacDonald’s mum, Wendy Robson, said: “Liam loved life, his family and friends. He was just at the start of his adult life, still finding who he was, and full of hopes and dreams.

“We have been robbed of having Liam here today, and in all our tomorrows, and in sharing those dreams with him. We will never meet the children he so wanted to have one day.

“We can’t adequately describe who Liam was, and what he means to us. We love and miss him beyond words.”

The incident occurred at Viking Energy Wind Farm at Upper Kergord on the morning of 5 June 2022.

Mr MacDonald, from Tain in the Scottish Highlands, was an agency worker who had been working at the site for more than a month.

Colleagues performed CPR and administered a defibrillator, but Mr MacDonald was pronounced dead at the scene.

A court heard how the bale arm weighed 80kg.

Jackie Randell, a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspector, concluded BAM Nuttall had failed to identify the risks of it falling and failed to put in place a safe system of work to ensure that anyone using, maintaining or cleaning the skip would be protected from harm.

The firm pleaded guilty to breaching health and safety regulations at Inverness Sheriff Court earlier this month.

At Lerwick Sheriff Court on Wednesday, it was fined £800,000 with a £60,000 victim surcharge.

Sheriff Ian Hay Cruickshank reduced the fine from £1.2m due to the timing of BAM Nuttall’s plea.

The sheriff stated: “It is necessary for me to impose a financial penalty that sends a message that companies must do all within their power to ensure safe working practices.

“That is the responsibility of not only those who manage a company. The duty extends to others including shareholders.”

Sheriff Cruickshank said Mr MacDonald had been instructed to carry out a task he had not done before, adding: “He was given no guidance or instruction.

“He was not supervised, and he was sent to the skip alone with no check immediately prior to commencing his task carried out on the security of the bale arm.”

The sheriff accepted the fatal accident “occurred as a result of oversight”.

He noted how BAM Nuttall has since reviewed procedures and implemented new measures to improve workplace safety.

The sheriff added: “I accept that their introduction would substantially reduce, if not eradicate, a reoccurrence of a similar incident.”

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Debbie Carroll, head of health and safety investigations for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS), said Mr MacDonald’s death “could have been prevented” had the skip’s maintenance and cleaning risks been “suitable and sufficiently assessed”.

Ms Carroll added: “Their failure to identify the hazards represented by the skip’s bale arm and ensuring that it was secured prior to the cleaning operation beginning led to Mr MacDonald’s death.”

BAM Nuttall extended its “sincere condolences” to Mr MacDonald’s family and apologised for the circumstances which led to his death.

A spokesperson for the firm added: “We strive every day to ensure that all our staff work in a safe environment and we deeply regret that we failed Liam in June 2022.

“Safety is our priority and we are always reviewing our procedures and making continuous improvements.

“Immediately after Liam’s death we took steps to ensure that this incident would not be repeated, and we will continue to build on this learning going forward.”