RISHI Sunak has been told off in the House of Commons after criticising Labour's previous peerage nominations.
During Prime Minister's Questions, Keir Starmer criticised Sunak for failing to block Boris Johnson's nominations to the House of Lords.
The House of Lords Appointments Commission said it rejected eight of Johnson's picks for peerages.
Sunak then said that Johnson had asked him to do "something I wasn't prepared to do" - although Energy Security Secretary Grant Shapps has since said that Downing Street did not interfere with who was recommended for peerages.
"The truth is, for all his tough talk after the event, the Prime Minister did sign off the Honours list.
"And that means that those who threw a Downing Street party the night before the late Queen sat alone at her husband's funeral will now receive awards from the King.
"If he's so tough, why didn't he block it?"
However, Sunak then took a dig at the Labour Party's decision to nominate former deputy leader Tom Watson to the House of Lords last year.
"Mr Speaker, it's right that we use the Honours system to recognise people, almost 2000 people a year," said Sunak.
"But he talks about putting people in the House of Lords.
"Perhaps he could explain why he put forward for a peerage the former Labour MP Tom Watson, who spread vicious conspiracy theories that were totally and utterly untrue, damaged public discourse and inflicted misery on innocent people."
But Speaker Lindsay Hoyle intervened to chastise Sunak for his conduct.
"Can I just say to the Prime Minister, he shouldn't criticise other members.
"Also, you're not responsible for the other parties. You're the Prime Minister who is answering the questions, not asking the questions".
Watson was criticised in 2012 for comments he made in the House of Commons about the existence of a high-level paedophile ring protected by its connections to Parliament.
It led to an ultimately fruitless investigation by police, with Watson facing criticism for his part in amplifying the claim.
