Lord Sewel, upholder of standards in public life

“THE idea that we give bottles of champagne to peers is a nonsense,” Lord Sewel wrote in a letter published in The Economist in December. “Perhaps your columnist might consider giving rather more emphasis to [the Lords’ impact] than wearied caricatures,” he suggested in a second letter, published last month.

As chairman of committees of the House of Lords, the 69-year-old baron oversaw guidelines for acceptable conduct by members, and was quick to defend the reputation of the House whenever it came under attack in the media. This made it all the more surprising that, on July 26th, a video published by the Sun on Sunday appeared to show Lord Sewel gadding about in a red brassiere, snorting cocaine with two young prostitutes.