Two peers have been suspended from the House of Lords after a parliamentary watchdog found they broke lobbying rules. Lord Dannatt, a former head of the British army, and Lord Evans of Watford were caught in undercover footage recorded by the Guardian.
Lord Dannatt will be suspended for four months after offering to secure meetings with ministers for a potential commercial client. He was secretly filmed saying he could make introductions and would “make a point of getting to know” the best-placed politician. The Guardian later uncovered three further cases where he provided parliamentary services for payment.
Lord Evans, a Labour peer since 1998, will be suspended for five months after four separate breaches of the rules. He was caught offering to introduce undercover reporters posing as property developers to fellow parliamentarians. Evans has had the Labour whip removed, while Dannatt remains a crossbench peer.
Both initially denied wrongdoing. In a statement, Dannatt said he “deeply regret[s] the commissioner’s findings” and accepted the sanction. He added: “At nearly 75 no one is too old to learn lessons.” The conduct committee found he had repeatedly exploited his status to lobby ministers on behalf of commercial interests over two years, including for a fertiliser factory venture, a US defence company, and a goldmine company in Ghana.
The inquiries followed investigations by the Guardian as part of its Lords debate project. Two other peers were previously sanctioned after similar Guardian reporting.
