Drug-Scandal Peer Should Quit Lords, PM Hints

David Cameron has suggested Lord Sewel should have his lifetime peerage removed if the "very serious" drug-taking allegations against him are true.

The Prime Minister said there would be "further questions" over whether it was "appropriate" for a peer to continue working in the House of Lords if they had behaved "in this way".

Parliamentary authorities have called in Scotland Yard over allegations Lord Sewel, the deputy speaker of the Lords, engaged in drug use with prostitutes.

Lord Sewel stepped down from his £84,500-a-year role, which included overseeing standards in the Upper House, after he was caught on video allegedly using drugs .

The peer, a former Labour minister, is under increasing pressure to resign from the Lords after the footage was published by The Sun On Sunday.

The video appears to show the 69-year-old taking cocaine with prostitutes at his Pimlico flat.

Speaking on a trip to Southeast Asia, Mr Cameron said: "These are very serious allegations.

"I think it's right he has stood down from his committee posts and I'm sure further questions will be asked about whether it is appropriate to have someone legislating and acting in the House of Lords if they have genuinely behaved in this way.

"It's still going to take some time I suspect to get to the full truth."

In the video Lord Sewel is pictured wearing an orange bra and leather jacket as he smokes a cigarette.

Further footage of the peer saw him insulting other politicians. He says David Cameron is "the most facile, superficial Prime Minister there has ever been. He just shoots from the hip".

The Lords commissioner for standards Paul Kernaghan, a former police chief constable, is carrying out an initial assessment of the allegations following an official complaint from the Liberal Democrats.

He is expected to announce within 48 hours whether a full investigation will go ahead.

If so then Lord Sewel could become the first peer to be expelled under tough new rules he helped to introduce and which only came into force on 16 July.

In an article he wrote earlier this month outlining the changes, he said: "Scandals make good headlines. The requirement that members must always act on their personal honour has been reinforced."

Under the House of Lords (Suspension and Expulsion) Act 2015, Lord Sewel would face being excluded from the House of Lords either temporarily or permanently.

The cross-party Lords Privileges and Conduct Committee - which Lord Sewel chaired until the scandal broke - will then decide on a punishment.

However, if Lord Sewel is convicted of possession of cocaine the maximum sentence is seven years in prison and any peer jailed for a year or more automatically stops being a member of the House of Lords.

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In a statement to Sky News, Lord Sewel said: "I confirm that I have been in touch with the Lord Speaker and have informed her of my resignation as Deputy Speaker and Chairman of Committees."

Lord Speaker Baroness D'Souza described Lord Sewel's behaviour as "shocking and unacceptable", adding that the matter would be referred to police.

On Monday morning Labour confirmed the peer had been suspended by the party.

Scotland Yard said: "We are aware of the story in The Sun on Sunday (on) 26 July relating to alleged Class A drug use at an address in Westminster. Any allegations will be investigated."

Lord Sewel was appointed a junior Scotland minister following Mr Blair's first election victory in 1997. He was made a life peer in 1996.

The married father-of-four is a former vice-principal of Aberdeen University and was leader of Aberdeen district council in the late 1970s.