Britain's opposition Labour party vowed on Monday to scrap the unelected and "indefensible" House of Lords as part of a constitutional revamp to redistribute economic growth after Brexit. Labour looks set to take power in the next election, due by January 2025, streaking far ahead of the governing Conservatives in opinion polls after a tumultuous period politically and economically. Labour leader Keir Starmer promised "the biggest ever transfer of power from (the UK parliament in) Westminster to the British people", arguing that many voters in 2016 opted to quit the European Union because of a sense of lack of democratic control. The party's blueprint for reform, drafted by former prime minister Gordon Brown, envisions new devolution to the UK's regions and countries including Scotland, where the nationalist government is pressing for a new referendum on independence. Brown, who led the successful 2014 campaign for his fellow Scots to stay in the United Kingdom, proposed greater devolution, with the Edinburgh parliament included in international agreements that involve Scottish areas. Addressing an audience in Leeds, northern England, Starmer said a "failure of economic growth...
↧