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| Version 2 | Version 3 |
|---|---|
| Lord Sewel resigns from House of Lords after drug claims | Lord Sewel resigns from House of Lords after drug claims |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Lord Sewel has resigned from the House of Lords after being filmed allegedly taking drugs with prostitutes. | Lord Sewel has resigned from the House of Lords after being filmed allegedly taking drugs with prostitutes. |
| Footage obtained by The Sun on Sunday appeared to show the peer - who had been deputy speaker of the Lords - snorting powder from a woman's breasts. | Footage obtained by The Sun on Sunday appeared to show the peer - who had been deputy speaker of the Lords - snorting powder from a woman's breasts. |
| In a letter to the Clerk of the Parliaments, he wrote: "I want to apologise for the pain and embarrassment I have caused." | In a letter to the Clerk of the Parliaments, he wrote: "I want to apologise for the pain and embarrassment I have caused." |
| He said he hoped his decision would "limit and help repair" the damage. | He said he hoped his decision would "limit and help repair" the damage. |
| Police have also launched a criminal investigation and searched a property in central London. | Police have also launched a criminal investigation and searched a property in central London. |
| The Metropolitan Police said it was looking into "allegations of drug-related offences involving a member of the House of Lords". | The Metropolitan Police said it was looking into "allegations of drug-related offences involving a member of the House of Lords". |
| Speaking in Singapore, Prime Minister David Cameron welcomed Lord Sewel's decision to "absent himself" but appeared to rule out wider reforms to the House of Lords, saying he had tried and failed in the last Parliament to do so and was not planning "to go down that route again". | |
| 'Public confidence' | 'Public confidence' |
| On Monday, the peer requested a leave of absence from the Lords, but sources had suggested he did not plan to quit. | On Monday, the peer requested a leave of absence from the Lords, but sources had suggested he did not plan to quit. |
| But in letter published on Tuesday, he wrote: "The question of whether my behaviour breached the Code of Conduct is important, but essentially technical. | But in letter published on Tuesday, he wrote: "The question of whether my behaviour breached the Code of Conduct is important, but essentially technical. |
| "The bigger questions are whether my behaviour is compatible with membership of the House of Lords and whether my continued membership would damage and undermine public confidence in the House of Lords. | "The bigger questions are whether my behaviour is compatible with membership of the House of Lords and whether my continued membership would damage and undermine public confidence in the House of Lords. |
| "I believe the answer to both these questions means that I can best serve the House by leaving it." | "I believe the answer to both these questions means that I can best serve the House by leaving it." |
| On Monday, Lord Sewel was also pictured wearing an orange bra and leather jacket as he reclined, smoking a cigarette. | On Monday, Lord Sewel was also pictured wearing an orange bra and leather jacket as he reclined, smoking a cigarette. |
| Footage showed him making disparaging remarks about a number of senior politicians, including the prime minister. | Footage showed him making disparaging remarks about a number of senior politicians, including the prime minister. |
| Biography | Biography |
| Lord Sewel and House of Lords rules | Lord Sewel and House of Lords rules |
| Although Lord Sewel has resigned from the House of Lords he keeps the peerage he was given by the then Labour leader Tony Blair in 1996. | Although Lord Sewel has resigned from the House of Lords he keeps the peerage he was given by the then Labour leader Tony Blair in 1996. |
| Baroness Sewell, the leader of the House of Lords, welcomed Lord Sewel's decision to step down. | |
| "For the House of Lords to earn the confidence of the public, all of us must respect the privileges that come with a peerage and recognise that - because we are unelected - it is especially important to meet the standards the public have a right to expect, and to act swiftly when we fail." | |
| And Lord Hill, a former leader of the House of Lords, said those "responsible for setting standards" in the Lords must uphold them. | |
| "His position was not tenable," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. "I am glad that he has had a change of heart. I think he has done the right thing and I am relieved that has happened." | "His position was not tenable," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. "I am glad that he has had a change of heart. I think he has done the right thing and I am relieved that has happened." |
| 'Size of the Lords' | |
| Critics of the Lords argue that, with 783 members, it has become too large and that many of its members play little or no part in its proceedings. | |
| While a few people had "tarred its reputation", Lord Hill insisted the institution was still doing its job of revising legislation and holding the government to account effectively, while pointing out that new rules allowed peer to retire "without much fuss". | |
| "The key number to look at is the number of people who actually attend rather than those who are entitled to attend because there are an awful lot of peers who do not go along," he said. | |
| "There are people going out as well as coming in. I think you have to keep an eye on the size but the key question is does the House of Lords do the job that people need it to do?" | |
| Mr Cameron, whose government does not have a majority in the House of Lords, said peers were now able to retire when no longer able to contribute to the work of the Lords and he would "encourage that". | |
| Asked whether he would reconsider creating new peers in the future to effectively cap the size of the Lords, the prime minister said the Lords should "more accurately reflect" the size of the Commons, which has 650 members, but it was not possible to get there "in one go". | |
| Lord Sewel quit his £84,500 a year role as deputy speaker of the Lords and chairman of the Lords privileges and conduct committee in the wake of the revelations on Sunday. | |
| As a junior Scottish Office minister in the government of Tony Blair, Lord Sewel helped steer legislation through the House of Lords which paved the way for a Scottish Parliament. | As a junior Scottish Office minister in the government of Tony Blair, Lord Sewel helped steer legislation through the House of Lords which paved the way for a Scottish Parliament. |
| As a result, his name was given to the so-called Sewel convention, which allows the UK Parliament to pass legislation on a devolved issue extending to Scotland, over which the Scottish Parliament has legislative authority. | As a result, his name was given to the so-called Sewel convention, which allows the UK Parliament to pass legislation on a devolved issue extending to Scotland, over which the Scottish Parliament has legislative authority. |
| He stood for the Scottish Parliament in its inaugural election in 1999 but was not successful. | |