Peers in House of Lords charged taxpayers more than £46,000 on day of tributes to Prince Philip
Peers in the House of Lords charged taxpayers more than £46,000 on their day of tributes to Prince Philip.
In a Freedom of Information request by Sky News, it was revealed that 162 peers in the upper chamber claimed a daily allowance for 12 April.
Only 65 of those who claimed actually made a speech to pay their respects to the Queen’s late husband.
Peers paid tribute to Prince Philip in the House of Lords on 12 April
Peers are allowed to claim a £323 allowance for each day they attend the House of Lords, or £162 if they participate virtually from home.
On 12 April, following the news of Prince Philip‘s death three days earlier, proceedings in the House of Lords were dedicated solely to more than five-and-a-half hours of tributes.
Of the 97 peers who claimed a daily allowance despite not speaking in the chamber that day, 14 peers were deputy chairmen of committees – a role that allows them to deputise for the Lord Speaker if necessary.
A further 52 peers are either members of a Lords committee or hold a frontbench role for their parties.
Meanwhile, 31 peers who claimed the allowance and did not speak in the chamber that day appear to have no other formal role in the Lords.
The Duke of Edinburgh died on 9 April at the age of 99. Pic: AP
Campaigners for reform of the House of Lords claimed that some peers saw the upper house as a “cash cow”.
The Freedom of Information request also showed that two peers who spoke in the Lords chamber to deliver tributes to Prince Philip claimed for the full £323 allowance, despite making their speeches via video link.
And one peer claimed the full allowance despite official records showing they withdrew from speaking in the chamber that day.
The House of Lords said there were no discrepancies between the official record of peers who attended parliament in person on 12 April and claims for the full £323 daily allowance.
Darren Hughes, the chief executive of the Electoral Reform Society, told Sky News: “This is the kind of expenses scandal in the unelected Lords which just seems to keep repeating itself.
“While many peers work hard, too many appear to see the Lords as a cash cow – eroding trust in the work of parliament as a whole.
“There is simply no way for voters to kick out those who fall short of the standards we need in the UK’s revising chamber.”
“Right now, the Lords looks more like a private member’s club than the effective scrutiny body Britain deserves.
“The unelected Lords is devoid of accountability, and that has to change.
“In 2021, it is outrageous that prime ministers can appoint unlimited numbers of donors, party figures and friends to claim expenses and vote on our laws for life.”
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Duke of Edinburgh laid to rest
Currently, there are about 800 members who are eligible to take part in the work of the House of Lords.
This means the Lords is the second-largest legislative chamber in the world behind China’s National People’s Congress.
The former Lord Speaker, Lord Fowler, last year criticised Prime Minister Boris Johnson for making a raft of new appointments to the House of Lords to increase the number of peers.
During his time as Lord Speaker, Lord Fowler had backed efforts to reduce the size of the Lords to 600 members.
There are 650 MPs in the House of Commons.
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A House of Lords spokesperson told Sky News that peers are “responsible for ensuring that claims they make are in accordance with the rules contained in the code of conduct” and that a “large majority of members take these duties seriously and undertake them with diligence”.
They said that “any breaches will be investigated under the code of conduct procedure”.
The spokesperson added: “The sitting of the House for tributes to the Duke of Edinburgh on Monday 12 April constituted parliamentary business and so members were allowed to claim daily attendance allowance if they qualified for it and wished to do so.
“Members who physically attended Westminster on that date would have been entitled to claim their full daily attendance allowance even if they didn’t speak in the chamber.
“Members who were unable to be in the chamber due to capacity issues, but had their attendance verified in specified parts of the estate, were also entitled to claim the full allowance if they were present when the House was sitting.
“Members of the House of Lords bring a wealth of experience and expertise from outside parliament into the various aspects of their role in scrutinising and improving legislation and holding the government to account.
“Not all the work that members undertake and which attracts an allowance is visible – much of it is done behind the scenes including select committee work, researching issues and meeting campaigners and members of the public.”
Nvidia boss Jensen Huang has told Sky News the AI sector is a “long, long way” from a Big Short-style collapse.
Speaking outside Downing Street following a roundtable with government and other industry figures, the head of the world’s first $5tn company defended his sector from criticism by investor Michael Burry.
Mr Burry and his firm, Scion Capital, gained notoriety for “shorting” – betting against – the US housing market ahead of the 2008 financial crash.
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He was portrayed by Christian Bale in the 2015 film The Big Short, which also starred Steve Carell, Brad Pitt and Ryan Gosling.
Earlier this week, filings revealed Mr Burry has now bet against Nvidia and on social media, he has suggested there is a bubble in the sector.
Some $500bn was wiped off technology stocks overnight Tuesday into Wednesday, Bloomberg reported.
Speaking to Sky News, Mr Huang said: “I would say that we’re in the beginning of a very long build out of artificial intelligence.”
Christian Bale portrayed Michael Burry in the 2015 hit film. Pic: Reuters
Defending his company and investment, Mr Huang said AI is the first technology that requires “infrastructure to be built” and that Nvidia has seen “great returns” from AI, and that is why it is expanding.
Mr Huang said better training of AI has led to much “better” and “useful” answers, and that means “the AIs have become profitable”.
“When something is profitable, the suppliers want to make more of it, and that’s the reason the infrastructure build out is accelerating,” he added.
Pushed on whether he was worried about a situation like the Big Short, Mr Huang said: “We are long, long away from that.”
The UK government is betting big on AI in the hopes that it can save money by using it and generate growth by building the infrastructure to back it up.
Asked if she was worried about the market, Technology Secretary Liz Kendall told Sky News: “I have no doubts that AI is going to transfer all parts of our economy and our public services.”
Mr Burry and his firm, Scion Capital’s bets against Nvidia and other companies were revealed by regulatory filings earlier this week.
The investor also posted on social media for the first time in more than two years, warning of a bubble.
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Concerns have been raised about the market surrounding AI, and the growth many companies are experiencing.
Nvidia is the largest producer of the specialist computer chips that are used to train and use AI models.
Politics
‘Hope won’: London mayor Sadiq Khan compares newly-elected New York mayor to his leadership
New York has followed London by choosing hope over fear in electing Democrat Zohran Mamdani as its new mayor, Sir Sadiq Khan said.
Mr Mamdani, 34, defeated former New York governor Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa to become the city’s first Muslim mayor and the first of South Asian heritage.
London mayor Sir Sadiq drew comparisons to his own 2016 victory as he congratulated Mr Mamdani, who will become New York’s youngest mayor in more than a century when he takes office on 1 January.
Sir Sadiq Khan. Pic: PA
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Sir Sadiq called it a “historic campaign”, adding on X: “New Yorkers faced a clear choice – between hope and fear – and just like we’ve seen in London – hope won.”
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson also congratulated Mr Mamdani, telling Sky News: “I wish him well.
“It’s a wonderful job to have secured.”
Green Party leader Zack Polanski said Mr Mamdani’s success “will resonate throughout the world” as he called it a “story where no one is left behind”.
“It’s time to write that story across England and Wales too,” he added.
Zohran Mamdani with his wife, Rama Duwaji. Pic Reuters
Mr Mamdani’s victory was a setback for Donald Trump, who had thrown his weight behind Andrew Cuomo, a former Democrat running as an independent.
The mayor-elect described himself as “Trump’s worst nightmare” and said New York had shown “a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him”.
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The US president had threatened to cut federal funding to New York if Mr Mamdani won.
In his victory speech, Mr Mamdani said: “New York will remain a city of immigrants, a city built by immigrants, powered by immigrants and as of tonight, led by an immigrant.
“If anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him.”
Kemi Badenoch is calling for the government to “get Britain drilling again” – as Sir Keir Starmer heads to COP30.
The Tory leader has launched a joint campaign with the Scottish Conservatives to demand the moratorium on new oil and gas licences is lifted.
They are also calling on the chancellor to scrap the energy profits levy – an extra 38% tax on North Sea oil and gas profits – at the upcoming budget on 26 November.
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The Conservatives want the government to recognise that it believes gas will be a key part of the future energy mix to secure energy and lower bills to “deliver a stronger economy”.
They have launched the call to “get Britain drilling again” as the prime minister flies to Brazil for the COP30 summit after he reiterated the government’s dedication to clean energy goals and the UK’s role as a global climate leader on Tuesday.
He admitted COP30 would present a “challenge” due to slow global progress in cutting emissions, but said: “I’ve thought climate change has been our biggest challenge as a species for a very long number of years now.”
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Trump’s ambassador tells UK to drill for oil
Speaking on a visit to Aberdeen, Ms Badenoch said the UK, in particular northeast Scotland, is facing an oil and gas “emergency due to the anti-growth policies of the Labour government in Westminster and the SNP in Holyrood”.
She warned the offshore oil and gas sector “risks disappearing altogether”, which she said would mean job losses in Scotland and the rest of the UK, and leave the country more reliant on overseas energy imports.
Ms Badenoch said: “Scotland, and the whole United Kingdom, faces a growing oil and gas emergency thanks to Labour’s inability to put our national interest first.
“By the end of Labour’s first term in office, it’s not inconceivable that Scotland’s oil and gas sector will be at serious risk, with domestic production currently set to half by 2030.
“That would be a shocking indictment of Labour’s energy policy, and a dangerous act of economic self-sabotage.
“Enough is enough. Keir Starmer must find the backbone to ditch Ed Miliband’s Net Zero fanaticism, which is forcing up bills and driving away industry.
“Instead, the prime minister should do what our economy needs, scrap the energy profits levy and end the moratorium on new licences in the North Sea.
“If the Labour government fails to act, we could be witness to the end of our domestic energy security as we know it.”
North Sea oil exploration platforms lie in the Cromerty Firth in northern Scotland in 2003. Pic: AP
A Labour Party spokesperson accused Ms Badenoch of “doubling down on the same failed Tory energy policy that caused the worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation”.
“The Conservatives’ anti-growth, anti-jobs, anti-investment position on clean energy would cost hundreds of thousands of jobs, leave Britain reliant on insecure expensive fossil fuels and lock families into higher bills for generations to come,” she added.
“It’s the same old Tories, with the same old policies. It didn’t work then and it won’t work now.”
There have been a series of oil and gas closures this year.
Grangemouth, Scotland’s only oil refinery, stopped processing crude oil after a century of operations in April, with 430 job losses.
The union Unite said political leaders had “utterly failed” the workers and would face “electoral wrath”, while the area’s Labour MP, Brian Leishman, said he was “disgusted” by the broken promises.
Harbour Energy, the UK’s largest oil and gas producer, cut 250 jobs in Aberdeen in May, blaming the government’s fiscal rules and regulations.
The Prax Lindsey Oil Refinery in Lincolnshire ended production in August, with 125 job losses, after the group went into administration and the government was unable to find a buyer.
In October, oil and gas contractor Petrofac, which employs about 2,000 people in Scotland, filed for administration, but its core operating subsidiaries and North Sea business have continued to trade as normal while it looks at restructuring or selling.
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