‘We will grind you down’: how rogue peers became Labour’s toughest opponents

As Labour seeks abolition of hereditary peers, Tory-dominated House of Lords has inflicted near-record number of defeats on No 10

Dining in the House of Lords canteen just after Labour came to power, one Labour adviser found themselves sitting opposite two Tory peers.

In particular, the pair were fuming about the forthcoming abolition of hereditary peers. Both agreed, the adviser said, that there should be a deliberate strategy to undermine the government on all its legislation, to slow down debate, and to push the new Lords leader, Angela Smith, to ask No 10 for concessions.