Confused peer lost in Commons cloakroom

AN elderly peer who did not ‘know what day of the week it was’, was found lost in a Commons cloakroom during a debate in the House of Lords, it emerged last night.

SNP MP David Linden told how he came across the confused man wandering around Parliament as peers were supposed to be debating the Nuclear Safeguards Bill.

Mr Linden questioned whether all peers were capable of scrutinising legislation. He was among those yesterday debating an online petition signed by 170,000 calling for a referendum on the abolition of the House of Lords. Mr Linden said he had been getting changed to go for a run in a cloakroom off the members’ lobby in the House of Commons one night earlier this year.

He said: ‘As myself and two or three of my honourable friends were getting our running gear on, we found an elderly gentleman … absolutely confused as to where he was.

‘He didn’t realise he was in completely the wrong side of the building, did not know what day of the week it was, let alone what clause or schedule of the nuclear safeguards bill was being considered. There is something incredibly serious about bringing somebody in here who has not the mental faculties they require, not only to know what day of the week it is, but indeed what kind of legislation they are scrutinising.’

Mr Linden asked Cabinet Office minister Chloe Smith what provisions were in place to make sure that those in the House of Lords are able to still do their job.

The minister said it was largely for peers to decide if they should still have a place in the Lords adding: ‘We are trying to bring about a culture of retirement.’