Keir Starmer expected to award 25 new Labour peerages
Keir Starmer is putting the finishing touches to a list of dozens of new peerages aimed at strengthening Labour’s hand in the Lords, with Rachel Reeves’s outgoing chief of staff expected to be among them,The prime minister is planning to publish his list before Christmas, with a number of other former senior advisers, Labour party staff and former union leaders expected to be on it, the Guardian has been told by multiple sources briefed on the plans,About 25 new peers are expected to be created, joining the 30 new members of the House of Lords who were on Starmer’s list last December, including the short-lived former Downing Street chief of staff Sue Gray,The Conservatives are also expected to appoint a handful of new peers,Reform UK is not expected to have any, despite a request from Nigel Farage.
Farage wrote to the prime minister in August saying he wanted to appoint peers “at the earliest possible opportunity” but a Reform source said he had received no response.Katie Martin, who was Reeves’s chief of staff for almost five years, is expected to be made Labour peer despite a chaotic run-up to the budget, two sources with knowledge of the list said.Described by Reeves as her “most trusted adviser”, she has already taken on a new role in the Treasury focused on strengthening the government’s frayed ties with business, but could also made a minister in the Lords.A former Downing Street director of communications, Matthew Doyle, is also understood to have been offered a peerage, with one source saying he was a “dead cert”.It is unclear whether he has accepted it.
Neither Doyle nor Martin responded to requests for comment,Outgoing union leaders are also likely to be on the list, including the former Usdaw general secretary Paddy Lillis, who called for “a degree of silence” from other union bosses who had criticised Keir Starmer,The veteran Labour aide Carol Linforth, who ran the party’s annual conference and removed Keir Starmer’s jacket after he was glitter-bombed during his speech two years ago, has also been tipped,The appointments aim to continue Labour’s efforts to rebalance the Lords in its favour and prevent the opposition from slowing down the passing of legislation – as it has done on renters’ rights and abolishing hereditary peers,Most recently Labour figures have criticised Conservative, Liberal Democrat and cross-bench peers for their opposition to the employment rights bill.
Last week, ministers abandoned a plan to offer workers protection against unfair dismissal from their first day in the job, in an attempt to get the legislation through before Christmas.Meanwhile, proponents of the assisted dying bill have accused seven members of the Lords of trying to scupper it by tabling nearly 1,000 amendments in the upper chamber.The bill’s sponsors fear it will get filibustered if peers push many amendments to a vote.The Tories currently have 283 peers, compared with Labour’s 210.Even once the Conservatives’ 44 hereditary peers are gone, they would still have about 30 more members of the Lords than the government, sources said.
Sign up to First EditionOur morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what’s happening and why it mattersafter newsletter promotionNo 10 aims to appoint enough new Labour peers over the course of this parliament to rebalance the numbers, they added.Angela Smith, the leader of the Lords, is due to begin the next phase of reform of the upper house in the new year, including plans to remove peers who do not contribute enough to the chamber and retirement at the end of the parliament they turn 80.Labour’s manifesto included a pledge to bring in that mandatory age limit and participation requirements meaning that peers need to demonstrate they are playing a working role in the House of Lords.The manifesto also promised to strengthen the circumstances in which “disgraced” members could be removed, reform the appointments process to ensure the “quality of new appointments” and improve the national and regional balance of the second chamber.The Guardian understands that the House of Lords appointments commission has already met to discuss the proposed list.
Women’s prisons report finds 97 deaths in decade as self-harm hits record high
Over the past decade 97 women have died in prisons in England and Wales and incidents of self-harm among female prisoners have reached the highest level on record, a report has found.Inquest, the charity that produced the report, collated Ministry of Justice (MoJ) figures since 2015 to arrive at a total number of deaths. It said the numbers were evidence for its case that all women’s prisons should be closed.The deaths analysed by the report include those of Saria Hart, 26, who passed officers two suicide notes before taking her own life; Louisa Boultbee, 49, who had epilepsy and was found unresponsive in her cell after an apparent seizure, with two mandatory checks having been missed; and Aisha Cleary, a newborn baby whose 18-year-old mother gave birth alone in her cell despite pressing her cell bell twice.Inquest’s director, Deborah Coles, said: “The only certainty is that more deaths will follow unless the government radically changes direction
Leaked report reveals culture of bullying and harassment at scandal-hit NHS hospital
A culture of systemic bullying and harassment has been allowed to flourish among staff at one England’s most scandal-hit hospitals, a damning leaked report reveals.The safety of patients at Blackpool Victoria hospital was affected as a result of the failings, the report by the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) found.The report was provided to leaders at the Blackpool teaching hospitals NHS trust in January but its findings were not shared widely with staff until 10 months later, prompting concerns that employees’ ability to take urgent action on its 19 recommendations was compromised.Staff who spoke to the RCP inquiry team said that excessive workloads were handed to inexperienced doctors, leaving them fatigued and stressed while treating patients. They described a “keeping your head down culture” where their concerns were inadequately addressed
Having a dog can boost teenagers’ mental health, say scientists
Having a dog in the home could help boost teenagers’ mental health, research suggests, with scientists adding this could in part be down to the sharing of microbes.Prof Takefumi Kikusui, of Azabu University in Japan, who led the work, said being with dogs could reduce owners’ stress and stimulate the release of the bonding hormone oxytocin.But the research suggests there could be other reasons pooches may have a positive influence.“Several studies have reported the mental health benefits of dog ownership, and we have demonstrated that the microbiome may be one mechanism involved,” Kikusui said.Writing in the journal iScience, Kikusui and colleagues report how they analysed survey results from 343 mentally and physically healthy adolescents who participated in the Tokyo Teenager Cohort Study, of whom 96 were dog owners
Labour proposed in opposition how to introduce assisted dying via private member’s bill
Labour proposed while in opposition how to introduce assisted dying via a private member’s bill, suggesting that would still allow “heavy influence” for the government in the process, a leaked document has revealed.The document, seen by the Guardian, proposed a change strikingly similar to the private member’s bill put forward eventually by the Labour MP Kim Leadbeater – to limit the change in the law to those who are “mentally competent, terminally ill and have a prognosis of less than six months left to live”.The leak will raise fresh questions over how much government control there has been behind Leadbeater’s bill and comes ahead of a major battle in the House of Lords continuing this Friday, where many opposing peers have tabled hundreds of amendments for debate, which has been seen by some as an effort to filibuster the bill.Because of the number of amendments, ten more sitting days have been assigned to debate but those on the pro-side still fear it will run out of time in the parliamentary session and have been holding private talks in an effort to persuade peers not to tie up the bill using parliamentary tactics.A Labour source opposed to the bill said the leak exposed “a shadow policymaking process, outside of the Labour manifesto, and with no consultation with MPs, unions or members, that sought to evade scrutiny on an issue of huge importance”
What to know when the ban on most US hemp products goes into effect
Ban set to be enforced in November 2026 will change pricing, availability and composition of productsCongress voted to ban most hemp-derived products last month in a last-minute addition to the spending bill that ended the government shutdown. The ban, set to be enforced in November 2026, will change the pricing, availability and composition of some of the most popular hemp-derived products on the market, like CBD tinctures and balms and THC drinks.Here’s what you need to know.It depends on what state you live in. Jonathan Miller, general counsel for US Hemp Roundtable, says that states that have passed laws to allow regulated, legal hemp, the market will probably continue to operate similarly to state-level recreational and medical cannabis markets
Scott Galloway on the masculinity crisis: ‘I worry we are evolving a new breed of asexual, asocial males’
When his book Notes on Being a Man was released last month, it raced to the top of the bestseller lists. The US author, tech entrepreneur and podcaster explains his theories on dating, crying – and the rise of Donald TrumpIt takes balls to title your book Notes on Being a Man. And, superficially, Scott Galloway could easily be lumped in with a dozen other manosphere-friendly alpha-bros promising to teach young men how to find their inner wolf. He is, after all, a wealthy, healthy, white, heterosexual, shaven-headed, 61-year-old Californian who made his name and fortune as a successful investor and podcaster.But in reality, he is almost the opposite: liberal, left-leaning and surprisingly sensitive
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