Eric Pickles to be among 10 new peers installed by PM to fight Brexit battles
Tory source describes 2018 as shaping up to be a 'bloody street fight' in the Lords over Brexit
THERESA May will next week bolster Tory numbers in the House of Lords with ten more loyalists ahead of months of “bloody” Brexit battles.
Long-serving former Cabinet ministers Eric Pickles and Peter Lilley lead a list put forward by the PM to get new life peerages.
Other Conservative grandees being considered for ennoblement include ex- MPs Edward Garnier, Julian Brazier and Andrew Tyrie.
All either stood down or lost their seats at the general election in June last year.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is also appointing three new peers.
But the PM is pushing through three times his number in a bid to lessen Labour, Lib Dems and crossbenchers’ huge advantage in the upper house.
Opposition peers have threatened to water down the landmark EU (Withdrawal) Bill, which passes the Commons this week — or force another Brexit referendum.
A Tory minister told The Sun: “Pretty much the whole of 2018 is going to be a bloody street fight in the Lords, who are overwhelmingly either soft Brexit or pro-Remain.
“There will be a lot of late nights, so we’ll need as many reinforcements as we can in there.”
The Tories currently have 248 peers, falling more than 150 short of a majority of the Upper House’s total 795 members.
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There are 198 Labour lords, 100 Lib Dems and 183 cross benchers, as well as 25 bishops and a handful of other non-affiliated members.
Five more major bills on Brexit are due to follow it this year.
The independent House of Lords Appointment Commission will meet next week to approve the list.