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The violent reign of notorious 1960s gangsters the Krays has been highlighted in Westminster as an argument against plans to throw hereditary peers out of the Lords.
Ronnie and Reggie’s activities in the London underworld were recounted in Parliament by Lord Hamilton of Epsom, when he warned that legislation proposed by the government to reform the Upper House deemed appointed members “good” and those who served there were considered “evil” by birthright.
The Conservative former minister objected to this and delved back into history to emphasize the connection between the infamous twins and Lord Boothby, a former MP who was one of the first to be appointed a life peer after a change in the law in 1958.
Lord Hamilton also referred to the long-running affair between Boothby and Dorothy Macmillan, the wife of then Conservative Prime Minister Harold Macmillan.
But Lord Boothby was much more exotic than just that. He was actually photographed enjoying drinks at a Soho club with the Kray twins
He further pointed to the imprisonment of former life peers Lord Kagan and Lord Archer of Weston-super-Mare, while calling the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill “very, very easy”.
The legislation, passed by the House of Commons, will abolish the 92 seats reserved for bloodline members.
The bill delivers on a promise from Labour’s election manifesto and has been promoted as the first step in a reform process amid ongoing concerns about the size of the House of Representatives.
Opponents argue it will push appointments even further into the hands of the then Prime Minister, without limiting the numbers.
Referring to George Orwell’s allegorical novel, Lord Hamilton said: “I think this Bill, which is a bit strange, must have been drafted by someone who had just read Animal Farm, because for some reason the House is divided between peers who are good and hereditary peers who are bad.”
He added: “So is there anything superior to named peers over chosen hereditary peers? I don’t think so, I think the opposite is true.”
Highlighting the introduction of life peerages in 1958, Lord Hamilton said: ‘Probably the most memorable name of the life peers who entered the House of Representatives at that stage was Lord Boothby.
‘Lord Boothby’s claim to fame was that he had actually slept with the Prime Minister’s wife.
“This completely ignored the advice I gave to people who wanted to be life companions in this place. I always told them, ‘Whatever else you do, make sure you don’t sleep with the Prime Minister’s wife.’
‘But Lord Boothby was much more exotic than just that. He was actually photographed enjoying drinks at a Soho club with the Kray twins.
“Now most of you are too young to remember anything about the Kray twins, but they were actually a very, very sinister bunch of gangsters, the closest thing to the mafia in this country and they had a protection racket that absolutely merciless.
“They tortured very large numbers of people and one of them was so psychotic that he actually enjoyed doing it.
“It took some time for the legal authorities to catch up with the Kray twins, but eventually they ended up in prison and I think they both died there.
‘Lord Boothby was lucky because he didn’t end up in prison.
“But then again, Lord Kagan did.”
The Lithuanian refugee and textile magnate was a friend of then Prime Minister Harold Wilson and was appointed life peer in 1976.
However, Kagan was subsequently found guilty of fraud and imprisoned in 1980.
Stripped of his knighthood, Kagan’s peerage could not be removed and after his release he returned to the House of Lords and became a campaigner for criminal justice reform until his death in 1995.
Lord Hamilton also highlighted the case of best-selling author and former Tory MP Lord Archer, who was jailed in 2001 after being found guilty of perjury and perverting the course of justice.
The colleague said: “I’m just pointing this out because it is very clearly wrong to say that all fellow citizens are criminal convicts… but the damage that one or two people do is very, very great for the House and people outside cannot understand why people who are supposed to write the laws cannot enforce them themselves and are in fact outside the law.
“So when we say that hereditary peers are bad and life peers are good, that does not apply in all cases.”
Lord Hamilton criticized legislation that would see the removal of hereditary peers and warned of the loss of expertise.
He said: “It seems an extremely negative way to plan the future of this House and hold the Government to account.
“We will be looking at this bill with very great intensity… I think this is a very, very easy bill that needs to be examined in depth.”
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