UK House of Lords deputy speaker quits after video shows him ‘snorting cocaine with prostitutes’
PUBLISHED : Monday, 27 July, 2015, 9:20am
UPDATED : Monday, 27 July, 2015, 9:33am
The Guardian in London
A still image from The Sun's video, allegedly showing Lord Sewel cavorting with a sex worker. Photo: The Sun
British peer Lord Sewel is facing a police investigation after quitting as deputy speaker of the House of Lords over a video allegedly showing him snorting cocaine with prostitutes.
The speaker of the Lords, Baroness D’Souza called the crossbench peer’s alleged behaviour “shocking and unacceptable” and said she was referring the matter to Scotland Yard.
“Today’s revelations about the behaviour of Lord Sewel are both shocking and unacceptable. Lord Sewel has this morning resigned as chairman of committees,” Lady D’Souza said in a statement on Sunday.
“The House of Lords will continue to uphold standards in public life and will not tolerate departure from these standards.
“These serious allegations will be referred to the House of Lords commissioner for standards and the Metropolitan police for investigation as a matter of urgency.”
Sewel’s resignation comes after the Sun on Sunday published a video showing him using a £5 note to snort a white powder off a tabletop. He is also heard calling Asian women “whores”.
Lord Sewel snorts white powder through a rolled-up banknote in a scene from the video. Photo: The Sun
The paper said the footage was filmed in Sewel’s flat in Dolphin Square, just a short walk from the House of Lords.
In the video, Sewel, who has been a peer since 1996, is asked whether he receives expenses, and explains that he now gets a flat-rate allowance of £200 (HK$2,400) a day, though he alludes to the system being less rewarding than it once was.
“It’s all changed and disappeared. People were making false claims,” he is heard saying. “Members of her lordship’s house … are right thieves, rogues and bastards at times. Wonderful people that they are.”
The allowance for peers is £300 a day, and does not apply to Sewel, who is paid a salary of £84,525 for his role as chairman of committees. As he declared his main residence was in Aberdeenshire, he was also entitled to a tax-free office holder’s allowance of £36,000 plus travel and other expenses.
Baroness D’Souza, the speaker of the Lords, confirmed Sewel’s resignation and said she would be referring the allegations against him to the police: “Today’s revelations about the behaviour of Lord Sewel are both shocking and unacceptable,” she said. “Lord Sewel has this morning resigned as Chairman of Committees. The House of Lords will continue to uphold standards in public life and will not tolerate departure from these standards.
How The Sun on Sunday reported its exclusive. Photo: The Sun
“These serious allegations will be referred to the House of Lords Commissioner for Standards and the Metropolitan Police for investigation as a matter of urgency.”
His responsibility is to oversee the work of the various Lords committees and ensures they are not working in conflict with one another, and using their time and resources to best effect. He has also sat on the committee responsible for members’ privileges and conduct.
Sewel is a former senior vice-principal of the University of Aberdeen and a former parliamentary undersecretary of state at Scottish Office, serving as the minister for agriculture, environment and fisheries between 1997-1999.
Sewel is not required to resign from the Lords until an investigation by peers.
It is also open to the upper house to sanction a peer by denying them access to the Lords facilities or suspend the member from parliament for a specific period.
