Expenses scandal costs Laws a peerage
DAVID Laws, the former chief secretary to the Treasury, will today miss out on a peerage after being turned down for breaching expenses rules by paying £40,000 of taxpayer’s money to his secret boyfriend.
Mr Laws, a Liberal Democrat, resigned in 2010 after it was revealed he had charged the taxpayer £950 a month to rent two rooms in a property owned by James Lundie, who was also his partner.
Mr Laws, who returned to government in 2012, said at the time that his motivation in keeping his relationship with Mr Lundie secret was because he did not want to reveal his sexuality. De- spite the scandal, Nick Clegg, the former deputy prime minister, nominated Mr Laws as one of 11 candidates for a peerage.
The appointment is one of seven blocked by the House of Lords Appointments Commission. The sevenstrong committee is chaired by Lord Kakkar, an independent peer and hospital surgeon, while other members include former the Tory leader Lord Howard along with prominent Labour and Lib Dem peers.
The decision reportedly infuriated Mr Clegg, who nominated former the Lib Dem MP Sir Andrew Stunell for a peerage instead. Other Lib Dem MPs who left parliament at the general election are likely to be made peers. They include Sir Alan Beith, Sir Menzies Campbell, Lynne Featherstone, Lorely Burt and Don Foster. One senior source said the list of so many Lib Dems had been drawn up to help secure Mr Clegg’s “legacy” as the party’s leader from 2007 to 2015.
The number of Lib Dem MPs being elevated to the House of Lords risks sparking a “constitutional crisis” amid claims that the party is over-represented in the second chamber.
The party was almost wiped out at the general election and was reduced to just eight MPs. However, the Lib Dems have 102 peers in the House of Lords, far exceeding their support among the public. There are 227 Conservative peers, 212 Labour, 11 from other parties and 233 with no party affiliations.