The violent reign of notorious 1960s gangsters the Krays has been highlighted at Westminster to argue against plans to throw out hereditary peers from the Lords.
The London underworld activities of Ronnie and Reggie were recounted in Parliament by Lord Hamilton of Epsom as he warned that legislation proposed by the Government to reform the upper chamber treated appointed members as “good” and those there by right of birth as “bad”.
Taking issue with this, the Conservative former minister delved back into history to highlight the connection between the infamous twins and Lord Boothby, a former MP who was among the first to be made a life peer following a change in the law in 1958.
Lord Hamilton also made reference to the long-running affair between Boothby and Dorothy Macmillan, the wife of the then Conservative prime minister Harold Macmillan.
But Lord Boothby was rather more exotic than just that. He was actually photographed enjoying a drink in a Soho club with the Kray twins
He went on to point to the jailing of one-time life peers Lord Kagan and Lord Archer of Weston-super-Mare as he branded the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill “very, very facile”.
The legislation, which has been through the Commons, will abolish the 92 seats reserved for bloodline members.
The Bill delivers on a promise in Labour’s election manifesto and has been promoted as the first step in a process of reform amid ongoing concerns over the size of the House.
Opponents claim it will push appointments even further into the hands of the Prime Minister of the day, with no curb on numbers.
Referring to George Orwell’s allegorical novel, Lord Hamilton said: “I think this Bill, which is bit odd, must have been drafted by somebody who had just read Animal Farm because for some reason the House has been divided between life peers who are good and hereditary peers who are bad.”
He added: “So is there something superior about appointed peers over elected hereditary peers? I think not, I think the reverse is true.”
Highlighting the introduction of life peerages in 1958, Lord Hamilton said: “Probably the most memorable name of the life peers brought into the House at that stage was Lord Boothby.
“Now Lord Boothby’s claim to fame was that he had actually slept with the prime minister’s wife.
“This completely kyboshed the advice I used to give to people who wanted to be life peers in this place. I used to say to them ‘Whatever else you do, make sure you don’t sleep with the prime minister’s wife’.
“But Lord Boothby was rather more exotic than just that. He was actually photographed enjoying a drink in 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 couple of mobsters, who were the nearest thing we had to the mafia in this country and they ran a protection racket that was absolutely ruthless.
“They tortured very large numbers of people and one of them was so psychotic that he actually rather enjoyed doing it.
“It took some time for the legal authorities to catch up with the Kray twins but they did eventually end up in prison and I think both of them died there.
“Lord Boothby was lucky because he didn’t end up in prison.
“But on the other hand, Lord Kagan did.”
The Lithuanian refugee and textile magnate was a friend of then prime minister Harold Wilson and was made a life peer in 1976.
However, Kagan was subsequently found guilty of fraud and jailed in 1980.
Stripped of his knighthood, Kagan’s peerage could not be removed and following his release he returned to the House of Lords and became a campaigner for penal reform until his death in 1995.
Lord Hamilton also highlighted the case of the 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 peer said: “I am just pointing this out because quite clearly it is wrong to say that all life peers are criminal convicts … but the damage one or two do is very, very great to the House and people outside cannot understand why people who are supposed to be writing the laws cannot actually uphold them themselves and are actually outside the law.
“So when we come to say that hereditary peers are bad and life peers are good that doesn’t apply in every case.”
Criticising the legislation that would see the removal of hereditary peers, Lord Hamilton warned about the loss of expertise.
He said: “It seems to be an extremely negative way of planning the future of this House and holding the Government to account.
“We will be looking at this Bill with very great intensity … I think that this is a very, very facile Bill and needs exploring in very great depth.”
