Tory activist ‘posing as Lord Cramp’ in Westminster security alert
A FORMER Conservative council candidate has been accused of impersonating a hereditary peer in the Houses of Parliament, sparking a security investigation by the Metropolitan Police.
Officers at the Palace of Westminster were last night looking into claims that Jack Cramp, a young party activist, entered Parliament several times this week posing as “Lord Cramp”. The alarm was raised on Thursday night when two parliamentary researchers confronted him in the Commons bar, alleging his security pass for staff and peers in the House of Lords was fake.
The incident is likely to cause security concerns, particularly in the wake of the Westminster terror attack in March last year. While visitors pass through airport-style security, staff and members can enter by scanning or showing their passes. The staff members who confronted Mr Cramp told The Daily Telegraph they challenged him after they saw his pass, which they suspected was counterfeit. One, who works for a Conservative MP, said that when confronted, Mr Cramp claimed to be a hereditary peer but began to waver when asked further questions.
“The guy is harmless I think, but for all security knew he could have been a terrorist. I confronted him at the bar with my SNP mate and he fled the scene when I went to alert the police. He’s been doing it all week, apparently, but I was the first to call him out.”
Other parliamentary staff allegedly saw Mr Cramp on Tuesday on the Terrace, an alfresco restaurant overlooking the Thames. A source said Mr Cramp claimed he was the “youngest hereditary lord”, and another said they saw him several hours later in the Strangers’ Bar, often frequented by MPS and their staff. Last night a Metropolitan Police spokesman said: “The man left prior to the arrival of police. Officers from the Parliamentary Liaison Team are investigating. No arrests have been made and inquiries are ongoing.”
When confronted by The Daily Telegraph, Mr Cramp, who ran an unsuccessful campaign for a council seat in the London Borough of Hillingdon last month, admitted being in Parliament on Tuesday and Thursday, but denied being in possession of a fake pass. He said he had worn a visitor’s pass but “put it in my pocket” after clearing security. He said allegations against him were an attempt to “ruin his political career”, adding that he had been accompanied by pass holders, whom he refused to name.
He supplied a picture of an alternative blue card he said he wore, but when this was shown to witnesses, they said it was not the one he was sporting when confronted.
The Conservative Party last night declined to comment.