TORONTO – The deputy speaker of the U.K’s House of Lords has resigned and could be facing a police investigation after a newspaper published photos and a video allegedly showing him snorting a white powder with sex workers.
The House of Lords, which the Canadian Senate is modelled after, was rocked by the scandal Sunday after The Sun on Sunday newspaper published photographs of John Sewel, 69, who appears to be stripped naked and snorting what appears to be cocaine.
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Baroness Frances D’Souza, the upper chamber’s speaker, called the alleged incident “shocking and unacceptable.”
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“The House of Lords will continue to uphold standards in public life and will not tolerate departure from these standards,” D’Souza said in a statement to The Guardian. “These serious allegations will be referred to the House of Lords commissioner for standards and the Metropolitan police for investigation as a matter of urgency.”
The video posted by the newspaper shows portions of Sewel’s apparent conversation with two women alleged to be escorts. At one point in the video a woman tells Sewel, “You’re such a party animal, you are!” to which Sewel responds, “I know. Disgusting, isn’t it?”
In an ironic twist, one of Sewel’s responsibilities as deputy speaker was to enforce standards and ethics within the House of Lords. He was also an ally of former Prime Minister Tony Blair, serving as the minister for agriculture, environment and fisheries from 1997-1999.
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