Labour would scrap House of Lords, says Scottish party leader

A Labour government would scrap the House of Lords and create a ?senate of the nations and regions? in its place, the Scottish Labour leader has announced.

Giving a speech in Westminster, in which he also ruled out any pact or coalition with Nicola Sturgeon?s Scottish National party (SNP), Anas Sarwar said: ?A central part of the mission of the Labour party must be to renew democracy.

?The House of Lords, in its current form, as an institution has no place in 21st-century politics. It is unacceptable, and has been for far too long, to have unelected representatives wielding such power.

?The House of Lords must be abolished and replaced with an institution which better reflects the makeup and the identity of the United Kingdom.?

Scottish Labour has vowed to scrap the House of Lords and replace it with an elected senate of nations.

Anas Sarwar today said the new chamber would have a specific mandate to ensure the smallest regions around the UK will not be marginalise, as he ruled out a pact with the Scottish National party.

Speaking in Westminster, Mr Sarwar slammed the Lords for having “no place in 21st century politics”.

Labour vowed to abolish the Lords in its 2019 manifesto. Party chief Keir Starmer mentioned it in his 2020 leadership bid.

As part of his ’10 pledges’, Mr Starmer said: “Push power, wealth and opportunity away from Whitehall.