From The Sunday Times
April 26, 2009
Guilty peers Lord Taylor of Blackburn and Lord Truscott face a year's
suspension
Jonathan Oliver and Marie Woolf
TWO Labour peers at the centre of the lords for hire scandal have been
found guilty of misconduct by a sleaze inquiry and face suspension from
parliament, according to senior House of Lords sources.
Senior peers have concluded that Lord Taylor of Blackburn and Lord
Truscott have broken the code of conduct of members of the upper house.
The investigation began after undercover Sunday Times reporters posing
as lobbyists found that the two peers were prepared to help to amend
legislation in return for cash.
They could now be barred from parliament for up to a year and lose tax-
free allowances of up to £335 a day.
A senior Lords source said: “The committee has taken the allegations
very seriously and is determined that a message is sent out that this
sort of behaviour will not be tolerated.”
Taylor is a close political ally of Jack Straw, the justice secretary.
Truscott is a former Labour minister. They were secretly recorded making
claims that they could assist in changing laws and discussing fees of up
to £120,000.
The disclosure of their activities earlier this year led to an outcry in
the House of Lords amid claims that they had brought the upper chamber
into disrepute.
A formal investigation was launched by the subcommittee on lords’
interests, which examines allegations of misconduct. Its members include
Lord Irvine of Lairg, the former lord chancellor, and Baroness
Manningham-Buller, the former director-general of MI5. The subcommittee
is understood to have decided in the past week that both peers have
broken the rules governing how members should behave.
The code says peers should “take decisions solely in the public
interest, not to gain financial or other material benefits”. It forbids
them to accept money to help change the law.
The subcommittee is looking into two other Labour peers investigated by
The Sunday Times: Lord Moonie, the former defence minister, and Lord
Snape, a former Labour MP and whip.
It is not yet clear whether Moonie and Snape will face such harsh
censure. Their fate is to be decided this week.
The findings of the subcommittee will be considered by the Lords’ main
committee on privileges, which will determine what sanctions should be
imposed. The final decision will be taken in a vote of the whole house,
probably before parliament breaks for the summer recess in July.
It is understood that the privileges committee has been advised that the
house does not have the authority to expel members permanently. Legal
experts say it does have the power to suspend peers guilty of serious
misconduct for the “lifetime of the current parliament” — in other
words, until after the general election expected next year.
All peers involved in the affair deny wrongdoing. They now have the
right to make a written appeal to the privileges committee. Both Taylor
and Truscott declined to comment yesterday.
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