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Westminster insiders say that Sir Keir Starmer is looking to draw critics closer to his side
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and reportedly plans to appoint Khan to the House of Lords after local elections in May
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But this move is already sparking a powder keg of controversy. Well, I'm delighted to be joined in the studio by Reform UK member of the London Assembly, Keith Prince
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Keith, welcome to Westminster. Isn't it funny how, in opposition, Sir Keir Starmer wanted to abolish the House of Lords
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Now he's busy stuffing it with his chums. What's the intent here
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Is this a case of getting Sadiq Khan into the law to defang him
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to flatter him with a bit of vermin, to keep him shtum in the corner? What's going on? Well, it can't be a reward for performance, can it
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Let's be honest. I mean, he must be one of the worst performing mayors in the history of the mayoralty
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I could list a whole range of areas where he's underperformed, underachieved
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No, I think Stammer's almost being clever here. He's obviously seized Khan as a threat to him
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And we saw what he did to the Mayor of Manchester, kept him out of the Commons
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Of course, I think Khan would very much like to be back in the Commons and be the saviour of the Labour Party
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But, of course, if he's in the Lords, he can't stand for the Commons, can he? But he could be offered a Cabinet role
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there is precedent of lords leaping, being given a cabinet role. They suggested the same by bringing David Cameron back
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That's how bad it got for Conservatives recently. So there is a potential backdoor cap flap to power
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Could that be Sadiq Khan grand plot Well maybe I mean we did have actually a Lord who was Prime Minister many decades ago But no I think this is Starmer buying Khan off really
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It'll be interesting to see if he does get a Cabinet position. He could, but surely he needs to reserve the Cabinet rewards
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to people already in Parliament to buy them off. I mean, they're quite precious jewels to use as a leader to keep your own side under control
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Does it point to the left wing's hypocrisy about the Lords? When they're in opposition, they can't wait to burn the place down, metaphorically
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Get rid of it. Abolish. All the Lords are leaping. It's all for the toffs and the peers
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Suddenly, when they're in power, they can stuff it for their chums to make sure they get their vote through
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or they make sure they can block votes off, or in this instance, perhaps, buy off a potential challenger down the line
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Well, maybe it's part of his master Machiavellian plan. He puts Khan in the Lords until he no longer needs to keep him out of the house
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and then he abolishes the Lords with Khan in it. Because don't forget, there were rumours for many, many years, Keith Prince
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that your boss, Nigel Farage, might be bought off with a peerage
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draped in the Nerman cape, defanged, sat in the corner, that didn't quite work out
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No, I don't think that quite went to plan, did it? And that's the point
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So maybe Sadiq Khan here, by tucking him up in the lords
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as you say, is being neutralised. Maybe it's clever politics by Sir Keir Starmer
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Well, it might be, unless he does a U-turn on it, of course. Beautiful stuff
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Thank you very much for joining us in the studio
