Baron John Sewel, 69, will step down from his roles as Deputy Speaker and Chairman of Committees in the British parliament’s unelected upper house following the Sun on Sunday’s publication of a sordid 45-minute video.
The paper claims Sewel stripped naked for a drug-fueled sex romp at his London apartment during which he referred to Asian women as ‘whores’ and turned a framed picture of his wife face-down.
The emergence of the film comes just a few days after Lord Sewel unveiled new powers to expel peers for bad behaviour, saying: ‘The actions of a few damage our reputation; scandals make good headlines.’
(Daily Mail, July 27, 2015)
The above is how the media introduced most Britons to this coke-snorting, whore-shagging, colleague-slagging peer of the realm. Unsurprisingly, Sewel’s fellow peers in the House of Lords are lining up to give their best impression of Casablanca’s Captain Renault, making sure commoners know how truly “shocked, shocked” they are by his debauched behavior.
They are condemning him for bringing the House into disrepute. I would concur – if only a litany of scandals hadn’t already damaged its reputation beyond repair.
In his bestselling book, Parliament of Whores, P.J. O’Rourke ridiculed the scandalous behavior of members of the U.S. Congress. But, as the title suggests, he might have had the scandalous behavior of members of the UK parliament in mind.
For example, with apologies to O’Rourke, here is an excerpt from “Parliament of Thieves,” May 24, 2009, in which I ridiculed the fact that virtually every member was bringing the House into disrepute.
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On Tuesday, in a resignation more historic and shameful than that of former U.S. President Richard Nixon, Michael Martin became the first Speaker of the British House of Commons in 300 years to be forced out of office — amidst increasingly indignant calls for his head.
The high crimes and misdemeanors that incited these calls revolved around the fact that he presided over a ring of thieves in parliament that would make ‘Fagin’ green with envy.
Specifically, Martin was responsible for ensuring the proper use of the Commons’ expense system. Yet he sat blithely by in his speaker’s chair as MPs pick-pocketed British taxpayers to fund such plainly improper things as mortgage payments on homes already paid for, porn films, horse manure, cleaning the moat of their country estate, glittering toilet seats, and even dog food.
Who knew that the only swine flu Britons had to worry about was an epidemic of MPs feeding like pigs at the public trough….
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This brings me back to Lord Sewel – whose refusal to resign stems from his piggish wish to retain parliamentary privileges and continue collecting his £300-a-day allowance.
Mind you:
If these politicians were not lead vocals in a chorus of moral crusaders, I would not give their sexual escapades a moment’s thought. For the unadulterated pleasure of afflicting these hypocrites, however, I don’t even mind being bedfellows with a publicity-seeking hustler like Larry Flynt.
(“DC Madam Outs Sen. David Vitter as a Faithful ‘John,’” The iPINIONS Journal, July 17, 2007)
In this case, by day, Sewel presides as chairman of the House of Lords’ Privileges and Conduct Committee — the body that monitors and enforces standards of behavior among peers. But, by night, he cruises as a dirty old man of such hedonic vices that would make Caligula blush. How thoughtful of him, though, to put that framed, bedside picture of his wife facedown before defiling their bedroom so unconscionably. Of course, one of her neighbors just couldn’t wait to spread this bit of schadenfreude masquerading as concern:
‘It’s a crying shame for his wife and daughters. What must they be going through? They always seemed to be a very nice, comfortably off family.’
(Daily Mail, July 26, 2015)
I wish her and their children well. But here’s to seeing him publicly hoisted by his own self-righteous petard.
Meanwhile, the tabloid fodder Sewel’s sexcapades is providing must come as a tremendous relief to the royal family — that other scandal-plagued British institution.
After all, this is making the tabloid fodder the family’s secret 1933 film was providing just days ago seem like, well, ancient history. That film, you may recall, shows the Nazi-loving Edward VIII teaching his then adolescent niece, the future Queen Elizabeth II, how to properly perform the Nazi salute … like a good Hitler youth.
Technology is continually exposing the seedy secret lives of British royals and aristocrats. But each scandal strengthens my contention that their perquisites, presumptions, and privileges should be relegated to the dustbin of history.
Related commentaries:
Parliament of thieves…
Hypocritical politician … redundant…