A peer filmed snorting cocaine with prostitutes was facing calls last night to stand down from the House of Lords.
Lord Sewel, 69, was reported to the police and quit as deputy speaker of the Lords after the video emerged.
Until yesterday he chaired a committee on the conduct of peers and has said: ‘The actions of a few damage our reputation. Scandals make good headlines.’
Kick out the cocaine companion: Calls for disfavored Lord Sewel to be ousted from Parliament as he is accounted for to police over feature of him grunting medications and telling call young ladies ‘I need to be driven adrift’
Drug lord: Sewel is secretly filmed snorting a line of cocaine at his Westminster flat with £200-a-night call girls
Depraved: His wedding ring visible on his left hand, Sewel uses a rolled £5 note to snort up the white powder
Outraged watchdogs and politicians say the married father of four should be booted out of Parliament. New laws brought in on July 16 now allow peers to expel colleagues for misconduct.
Obtained by a Sunday newspaper, the video shows John Buttifant Sewel – a minister under Tony Blair – romping with two women at his rent-protected flat near Parliament.
He snorted cocaine from one of the prostitutes’ breasts after turning a photo of his wife face down on a desk. The women were paid £200 each.
Scotland Yard is under pressure to investigate the video, arrest the shamed peer and search his apartment. Cocaine possession attracts a maximum sentence of seven years.
Kick out the cocaine companion: Calls for disfavored Lord Sewel to be ousted from Parliament as he is accounted for to police over feature of him grunting medications and telling call young ladies ‘I need to be driven adrift’
Yesterday morning Sewel resigned as chairman of the privileges and conduct committee and as deputy speaker. The roles gave him a salary of £84,500 and a tax-free annual housing allowance of £36,000.
He was also a British delegate to Nato’s parliamentary assembly – a situation that now raises security fears. And in the 800-strong House of Lords, he has been involved in passing legislation on sexual offences acts, brothel-keeping and prostitution.
Alistair Graham, former head of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, said Sewel’s behaviour was staggering and he could have no ‘credibility with the public as a legislator’.
‘You can argue that there are too many peers in the House of Lords already, so standing down would be in the public interest in two ways,’ he said.
‘He should consider stepping down because the public have got to have trust in the people who are legislating on their behalf. How can they have trust in someone who is alleged to have broken the law?
Baron Sewel, who has two children and two more step-children, was made a minister by Mr Blair in 1997
During the footage, Sewell also snorted a white substance off the breasts of the call girls, after discussing on camera that the trio could take ‘coke’ (pictured). He also told the prostitutes: ‘I just want to be led astray’
Baron Sewel will step down from his roles as Deputy Speaker and Chairman of Committees at the House of Lords following the publication of the 45-minute video, in which he even calls his own behaviour ‘disgusting’
‘It is difficult to have trust in somebody who has had such a conflict between his role as the chairman of the conduct committee and his personal behaviour.
‘As an ordinary member of the House of Lords, he will be entitled to a basic subsistence allowance of £300 a day. The public will be appalled that given his personal behaviour as deputy speaker, he should continue to receive public funds.’
Kevin Barron, a Labour MP and chairman of the Commons committee on standards, said: ‘I welcome his decision to resign from his committee. Under the circumstances, he’s hardly in a position to sit in judgment on people.’
Asked whether he should consider resigning his Lords seat, Mr Barron replied: ‘It does look bad. It’s a matter for the individual but I think maybe he should consider that.’
Former anti-sleaze MP Martin Bell said: ‘His position in the House of Lords is untenable.’
John Mann, Labour MP for Bassetlaw, said: ‘He should immediately retire and never be seen in the Lords again. Public respect for Parliament couldn’t be any lower as it is.
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