Outrage as Truss to ramp up cost of Lords by handing out new gongs

Liz Truss was under renewed pressure to abandon her resignation honours list last night, with polling showing just seven percent are in favour of the gongs. A survey for Express.co.uk highlighted overwhelming opposition amongst the British public to the plans.Peers are allowed to claim £323 for every day they attend Parliament and cost the UK taxpayer an average of over £30,000 a year each.The former Prime Minister is understood to be preparing to hand out political honours to her aides and political allies despite spending just 50 days in the top job.By tradition, outgoing residents of No10 are allowed to reward those who they believe have made a positive impact to the country during their time in office.Ms Truss is facing outrage at plans to still take advantage of the privilege despite her short time in the job.READ MORE: Rishi Sunak hit by devastating poll showing ‘scale of anger’ at Tories Liz Truss is under pressure not to go ahead with an honours list (Image: PA)Honours can include peerages to the unelected House of Lords, knighthoods and MBEs and CBEs.A TechneUK poll for this website found 81 percent of those asked believed Ms Truss should not be allowed to hand out political honours.In total 1,624 Britons were surveyed on October 26 and 27, the two days after the former Prime Minister had been replaced by Rishi Sunak.One Conservative MP told Express.co.uk: “Liz Truss has already turned our party into a joke. Now she’s gone she should just shut up.”Putting her incompetent mates in the Lords would just create more bad headlines.”There are already about 800 peers in the Lords, making it the second biggest legislative chamber in the world – beaten only by China’s National People’s Congress.DON’T MISS:Rishi Sunak hit by Boris Johnson problem as new PM faces battle ahead [INSIGHT]Rees-Mogg insists axing EU laws still key as Sunak could delay move [REACTION]Daily Express campaign urges Sunak to protect pension triple lock [GET INVOLVED] The overwhelming majority want her to abandon her honours plans (Image: EXPRESS)Ms Truss’s plans to bolster the numbers in the Upper House comes just weeks after its numbers swelled due Boris Johnson appointing a number of new political peers.Earlier this month it emerged 13 new Conservative peerages would be created to reward those close to Mr Johnson. His list included former MPs such as Nicholas Soames and Hugo Swire.The list is separate to his own resignation honours list, which is yet to be announced.Warning Ms Truss not to go ahead with the honours list, Willie Sullivan of the Electoral Reform Society said: “A seat in the House of Lords should not be a reward for failure. Liz Truss has been told the list would be ‘reward for failure’ (Image: PA)”It’s a lifetime appointment to make our laws, not a gift to be handed out by a prime minister as they head out the door.”If Liz Truss chooses to pack the Lords with new peers on leaving office, it will only further damage Westminster’s legitimacy at a time when public faith in politics is already stretched to the limit.He added: “We need a smaller, elected House of Lords, where lawmakers are chosen by the people they serve not hand-picked by the prime minister of the day.”It’s time to end this farce and deliver the democratic second chamber our country needs.”