Yahoo – AFP,
Katherine Haddon, 28 July 2015
 |
Lord John
Sewel apologised after pictures in The Sun newspaper appeared to
show him
snorting cocaine with prostitutes (AFP Photo)
|
London
(AFP) - A British peer who was in charge of lawmakers' ethics quit the House of
Lords on Tuesday after allegedly snorting cocaine off a prostitute's breasts,
fuelling calls for reform of the unelected upper chamber.
Lord John
Sewel, 69, apologised for the "pain and embarrassment" caused after
the Rupert Murdoch-owned Sun newspaper published footage of him apparently
taking drugs and wearing an orange bra and studded leather jacket as he chatted
to two sex workers.
The images
also showed him calling Prime Minister David Cameron "facile" and
"superficial" and insulting several other senior politicians.
 |
The scandal
has prompted renewed calls
for reforms to slim down the House of Lords, made up of 783 peers (AFP Photo/ Toby Melville) |
While
reforming the House of Lords is not a priority for Cameron's centre-right
government, the case has sparked calls for the chamber -- the world's largest
legislative assembly outside China -- to be slimmed down.
"I
have today written to the clerk of the parliaments terminating my membership of
the House of Lords," Sewel, previously a deputy speaker of the Lords, said
in a statement.
"I
want to apologise for the pain and embarrassment I have caused."
The Sun on
Tuesday quoted the escorts as saying he snorted up to eight lines of cocaine
and described one of their sessions.
"He
slipped into a woman's blue dress and applied lipstick and eyeliner to engage
in depraved sex games too obscene to report in a family newspaper," the
tabloid said.
'Bloated'
House of Lords
The married
69-year-old, dubbed "Lord Sewer" by The Sun, quit his £82,525
(115,000 euro, $128,000) a year deputy speaker post overseeing the conduct of
fellow peers when the scandal first broke Sunday.
He then
announced Monday that he would take a leave of absence from the Lords but faced
growing pressure to step down entirely.
Several British newspapers said Tuesday that the case showed changes were needed to the House of Lords, made up of 783 peers who can claim a £300 daily attendance allowance.
 |
Members of
the Lords - mostly former ministers appointed by their own political
parties -
can claim a £300 daily attendance allowance (AFP Photo/Justin Tallis)
|
Several British newspapers said Tuesday that the case showed changes were needed to the House of Lords, made up of 783 peers who can claim a £300 daily attendance allowance.
Most
members of the Lords, which scrutinises and rubber stamps legislation, are
former ministers appointed by their own political parties.
The Daily
Mirror, The Sun's main tabloid rival, launched a campaign Tuesday to get rid of
all unelected peers.
Meanwhile,
The Times said the House of Lords was "bloated" and its numbers
should be reduced.
"An
unelected chamber with esoteric practices and a median age of about 70 cannot
afford to enter the public consciousness only when its members are embroiled in
scandal," it said in an editorial.
Cameron is
expected to create a string of new peers from his Conservative party in the
coming months to give him a majority in the upper chamber, making it easier for
his government to pass legislation.
The prime
minister reportedly ruled out sweeping reforms to the Lords on a visit to Singapore,
saying there was "no point in trying that route again" after a failed
bid in 2012 pushed by his former coalition partners the Liberal Democrats.
 |
Ten members
of the Lords have been temporarily suspended since 2009
for breaches including
abusing the expenses system (AFP Photo/Leon Neal)
|
'Privileges of a peerage'
Leader of
the House of Lords Baroness Tina Stowell acknowledged the importance of public
perceptions of the chamber as she welcomed Sewel's resignation.
"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," she said.
Sewel is a
former academic and local politician in northeast Scotland who was appointed as
a junior agriculture minister in Tony Blair's centre-left Labour government in
1997.
He gave up
the Labour whip in 2012 when he took on the job of overseeing the conduct of
peers.
Ironically,
Sewel oversaw the introduction of a new system under which peers can be forced
out of the Lords for breaching a code of conduct. Previously, only the monarch
could eject them.
Ten peers
have been temporarily suspended since 2009 for breaches including abusing the
expenses system and offering to lobby for private companies.
Related Articles:
British peer quits House of Lords amid drug and sex allegations
"Recalibration of Free Choice"– Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth, 4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical) 8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)
 |
A British
politician, Lord John Sewel, has resigned from the House of Lords after
a
newspaper published a video allegedly showing him using cocaine with
prostitutes.
Sewel was in charge of standards in the upper chamber.
|
Related Articles:
British peer quits House of Lords amid drug and sex allegations
"Recalibration of Free Choice"– Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth, 4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical) 8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)
“…5 - Integrity That May Surprise…
The Unthinkable… Politics, A Review
Humans will begin to search for integrity and fairness and it's going to happen in the places you never expect. I said this last week, so this is a review. There'll come a time when you will demand this of your politics - fairness and integrity. So when the candidates start calling each other names, you will turn your back on them and they won't get any votes. They're going to get the point real fast, don't you think? How about that?
Let me give you another potential. This country that I sit in right now [USA] will set the mold for that particular attribute. I have no clock. Watch for the youngsters to set this in motion, and they will, for they are the voters of tomorrow and they do not want the energy of today. To some of them, it's so abominable they won't even register to vote in this energy. You're going to see this soon. That was number five.. ..."
Humans will begin to search for integrity and fairness and it's going to happen in the places you never expect. I said this last week, so this is a review. There'll come a time when you will demand this of your politics - fairness and integrity. So when the candidates start calling each other names, you will turn your back on them and they won't get any votes. They're going to get the point real fast, don't you think? How about that?
Let me give you another potential. This country that I sit in right now [USA] will set the mold for that particular attribute. I have no clock. Watch for the youngsters to set this in motion, and they will, for they are the voters of tomorrow and they do not want the energy of today. To some of them, it's so abominable they won't even register to vote in this energy. You're going to see this soon. That was number five.. ..."
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.