The UK police authorities have intensified investigation into the case of Lord Sewel, a respected Parliamentarian and peer in charge of parliamentary ethics who quit the House of Lords Tuesday after photos showed him apparently wearing an orange bra and snorting cocaine off a prostitute’s breasts.
British Prime Minister, David Cameron, who expressed disappointment at the allegation, had hinted of a robust investigation into the matter with a view to restoring the sanctity of the House of Lords.
Lord John Sewel, 69, said: “I want to apologize for the pain and embarrassment I have caused.”
Scotland Yard launched an investigation and raided Sewel’s home near parliament Monday night.
Sewel, who’s married, was formerly senior vice principal of Aberdeen University in Scotland.
After serving as a government under-secretary, in 2012 he received a lifetime appointment to the House of Lords. He made about $130,000 as chairman of the Lords’ privileges and conduct committee.
“I have today written to the clerk of the parliaments terminating my membership of the House of Lords,” Sewel said in a statement Tuesday.
The Sun tabloid quoted sex workers that Sewel snorted up to eight lines of cocaine during 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.
One picture in the Sun showed him wearing a prostitute’s orange bra at a sex party.
In the House of Lords, Sewel had responsibility for dealing with ethics violations.
He introduced a new system to eject members permanently who breached the code of conduct.
Under the old system, only the monarch could throw them out.
His new seven-point code of conduct required peers to “always act on their personal honor” and to “show selflessness, integrity, accountability, openness, honesty and leadership.”
Over the past year, Sewel sanctioned three Lords who breached the code, the Sun said.
