Peers who retire are to be given lifelong club rights to the House of Lords, including the use of its restaurants to entertain contacts and friends.
Other perks will include use of the library and the Peers’ Guest Room, which overlooks the Thames. They will also be allowed to sit on the steps of the Throne in the Upper Chamber, although they cannot take part in debates.
Parliament is already known as the “best club in London”. But the proposals from the Lords House Committee to extend privileges to retired peers immediately raised questions over whether they could be used for lobbying and carrying out other business interests at Westminster.
Retired members would be able to take up to five guests to the Peers’ Dining Room.
There they could have starters including London cured smoked salmon with Avruga caviar on blinis for £13, smoked duck magret with roasted fig and rhubarb ketchup for £9.50 or broccoli and Wensleydale quiche at £8.50.
Main courses include Dover sole at £33, grilled poussin marinated in lemon and sage at £15 or slow-braised veal with a bourguignon sauce at £15.
Alternatively, they could take up to six guests to the Barry Room, a brasserie-style restaurant serving rib-eye steak for £19.50, lemon sole fillets at £14.50 or chicken breast for £9.
The privileges are being proposed to acknowledge peers’ contribution to the House.
According to sources, they are also intended not to discourage members who are considering retirement, amid attempts to reduce the number of peers, some of who attend rarely and participate in few debates.
With people living longer and new peers being appointed, the Chamber is increasingly unable to cope with numbers if a large proportion turn up for key debates. There are more than 780 members.
In recent years the Lords has also been hit by a series of expenses and lobbying furores.
Andy Silvester, of the Taxpayers’ Alliance, said: “At a time when we’re trying to make politics more transparent, it’s strange to allow unaccountable retired peers to walk around the Houses of Parliament, entertaining whoever they want side by side with influential policy-makers.”
“There aren’t many professions in which you can quit your job and still use the staff kitchen.”
Peers were previously unable to retire but can now do so under the House of Lords Reform Act 2014.
A House of Lords spokesman said: “The House Committee agreed to extend to retired Members the same access privileges which already exist for retired Bishops. It is not expected that retired members will use that access to advance their business interests.”
Three peers have retired so far, but none of them has extensive consultancy or active business interests.
