By James Chapman Former Commons Speaker Betty Boothroyd last night mounted a ferocious attack on David Cameron for breaking ‘the mould of British history’ by downgrading the status of the new Leader of the House of Lords. Baroness Boothroyd, a respected and much-loved figure on all sides at Westminster, accused the Prime Minister of a ‘careless disregard for the way our constitution works’. She even suggested that the position of International Development Secretary Justine Greening should be downgraded to allow the new Lords leader Baroness Stowell to enjoy the same rank as all of her predecessors. Furious: The much-loved Baroness Boothroyd accused the Prime Minister of a ‘careless disregard for the way our constitution works’
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Suggested International Development Secretary Justine Greening should be downgraded to allow new Lords leader Baroness Stowell into Cabinet
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Lady Stowell's position was downgraded because of a legal limit on the number of full Cabinet posts and salaries
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Lady Stowell can attend Cabinet but is not allowed to vote, and is paid a Lords’ minister of state salary of £78,891 a year, compared with the £101,038 that her predecessor, Lord Hill, received
Lady Boothroyd said it was a ‘dead certainty’ that @placeholder’s downgraded status would be used as an excuse to ignore the views of the Lords.