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Lord Sewel 'quits as Lord's deputy speaker' following drugs claims Lord Sewel 'quits as Lord's deputy speaker' following drugs claims
(about 7 hours later)
Lord Sewel is understood to have resigned from his position as deputy speaker of the House of Lords after being filmed allegedly taking drugs with sex workers, and now faces a possible police investigation. A peer who served as a minister under Tony Blair has quit as the House of Lords’ Deputy Speaker and is facing a police investigation after he was filmed allegedly snorting drugs off a prostitute.
A report in the Sun on Sunday purported to show images of Lord Sewel, who is part of a committee that oversees standards in the House of Lords, snorting white powder from a woman's breasts. Lord Sewel was filmed by a hidden camera as he cavorted with two women in his flat in Dolphin Square, Pimlico.
The Press Association reported the peer's resignation as the Lord's deputy speaker, citing sources at the House of Lords. The video, obtained by The Sun on Sunday newspaper, also appears to show him paying one of the women £200.
In the film, obtained by The Sun newspaper, the peer is shown with two women at his flat in Dolphin Square, Pimlico. At one point, one of the escorts tells him: “You’re such a party animal!” He apparently responds: “I know. Disgusting, isn’t it?”
He allegedly paid one of the women for the night with a cheque for £200, dated July 22. The married peer was also taped saying he wanted an Asian prostitute to join them, adding: “They sort of look innocent but you know they’re whores. That’s a really nice combination isn’t it?”
The newspaper quotes him as telling the women: "I just want to be led astray." Baroness D’Souza, the Speaker of the Lords, announced in a statement that Lord Sewel had resigned as Chairman of Committees, who presides over the Lords when it is in committee.
He is also allegedly heard to complain that he struggles to afford the £1,000 a month rent on the flat. “Today’s revelations about the behaviour of Lord Sewel are both shocking and unacceptable,” she said. “The House of Lords will continue to uphold standards in public life and will not tolerate departure from these standards.
Baroness D'Souza, the speaker of the House of Lords, has branded Lord Sewel's behaviour "shocking and unacceptable" and said she is referring him to the Metropolitan Police for investigation, according to the Press Association. “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.”
Lord Sewel himself, writing on the Huffington Post website earlier in the month, had complained that the "actions of the few" damage the reputations of those in the House of Lords. A spokeswoman for Scotland Yard said it was “aware of The Sun’s front page and we’ll investigate any allegations made to us”.
(Additional reporting by agencies) In the film, Lord Sewel, who as part of his Deputy Speaker role was responsible for enforcing standards in the Lords, is seen snorting lines of white power – at one point off one of the women’s breasts – through a rolled-up five-pound note. He refers to the women as “whores”. He was recorded telling the women: “I just want to be led astray.”
Despite receiving a salary of £84,500 as Chairman of Committees, he complains in the footage that he finds it difficult to afford the £1,000-a-month rent for his flat. He suggests his job is less lucrative following the expenses scandal. “It’s all changed and disappeared. People were making false claims,” he says, adding that there are “members of her Lordship’s House who are right thieves, rogues and bastards at times… wonderful people that they are”.
Earlier this month, Lord Sewel, who served as an agriculture minister under Tony Blair and is a former senior vice-principal of Aberdeen University, wrote an article for the Huffington Post website in which he trumpeted “new, stronger sanctions” to suspend and expel peers who break the rules and “damage our reputation”.
“Scandals make good headlines. Preventive measures seldom do. It is not surprising that more column inches are devoted to scandals than to measures taken by the House to prevent wrongdoing by its Members,” he wrote in the blog, published just six days before he handed over the £200 cheque.
He said the Lords had strengthened their own code of conduct. “They undertake always to put the public interest first. The requirement that Members must always act on their personal honour has been reinforced,” he wrote.
He even discussed new sanctions for peers caught in “sting operations by journalists” while discussing “what they might do for future [bogus] employers”.