On 21 May 1985, he was created a life peer as Baron Donoughue, "of Ashton in the County of Northampton". He was at his best in the Lords praising the work of government with some eloquence. But he was not at his best on the trade debates, wrongly predicting the permanent decline of North sea oil in 1985; but correctly on the longer-term collapse of manufacturing, and the failure of the Finniston Inquiry that he had helped to set up at the department of Trade. But he made a plea for a "better educated and skilled workforce" that might have presaged New Labour. He accused the oil industry of profiteering, rather than passing on "beneficial translation" to the consumer. Much of the fault lay with the compulsory signatories to the Official Secrets Act.