My Lords, I will also speak to the three other Motions in my name. The four Motions refer to two entirely separate investigations and I do not imply any direct connection between them, but the issues are similar and by speaking to all the Motions I hope to avoid repeating myself.
I also remind the House that the proceedings on these Motions are governed by Standing Order 68, which requires that the reports arising from investigations and Motions on sanctions be decided without debate. I shall therefore be brief.
The first report relates to the conduct of the noble Earl, Lord Shrewsbury, and the second to the noble Baroness, Lady Goudie. These investigations have been conducted independently by one each of our two commissioners for standards. Both noble Lords have been found to be in breach of the prohibition in paragraph 9 of the Code of Conduct on the provision of parliamentary advice and services in return for payment and reward.
It has been some years since any breach of paragraph 9 has come before the House, and one of the features of both today’s cases is the extent to which noble Lords appear to have misunderstood or completely overlooked this rule. I served on what was then the Sub-Committee on Lords’ Conduct in 2009 and chaired it from 2010, when the reputation of this House was gravely damaged by media allegations that noble Lords were willing to influence Ministers and the House in return for payment, so these rules matter. In fact, the House adopted the present code largely in response to the 2009 allegations. This House was motivated above all by a desire to clamp down on what the Leader’s Group on the Code of Conduct, chaired by the noble and right reverend Lord, Lord Eames, described as the phenomenon of
“‘peers for hire’ or ‘peers on the cab rank’”.