Paul Poulton comments on Lord's Sewel's recent behaviour and the ensuing consequences.

Paul Poulton

Calls to abolish the House of Lords have intensified after Lord Sewel, purportedly appeared on a secretly made video snorting cocaine with two prostitutes. It has emerged that the 69 year old peer of the realm also made derogatory and disparaging remarks about the Prime Minister, Mayor of London and a number of other well known public servants. There was, of course, an outcry from both the media and the public. But finding out what Lord Sewel had actually done that breached the rules of the House of Lords was not easy.

John Buttifant Sewel, received a peerage in 1996, after a career in higher education. He worked at Aberdeen University for over 30 years, rising to the position of vice-principal. He seemed suited to serve the public and "watch out" for us in the Upper House of Parliament, where he became the chairman of the Lords' Privileges and Conduct committee. The committee recently approved new rules which came into force earlier this year-peers can now be expelled from the House of Lords if they are found to have breached the code of conduct that members are expected to uphold. Lord Sewel stepped down from his position as chairman of the committee but seemed intent on holding onto his seat in the House of Lords, leading the public to believe that what Lord Sewel had done did not actually breach any of the rules and was conduct that's acceptable for Lords and therefore, I suppose, the rest of us.

In further pictures published by the Sun newspaper, the peer is shown smoking a cigarette in an orange bra and a leather jacket. Critics of the very concept of the present House of Lords had fuel for their fire. The Daily Mirror has been leading a campaign to abolish the House of Lords in the wake of Lord Sewel's sex and cocaine scandal. "I applaud your petition to abolish the Lords." said one supporter.

Lord Sewel's behaviour is not the first to have rocked the historic House which can trace its beginnings back to the 11th century. There have been other members of the House whose behaviour has been scandalous. In some ways this scenario is not unlike the church, it too, has had its share of leaders who've been involved in scandals. Some Christian leaders manage to hang on to their position after a "period of rest" from ministry, others disappear, never to be heard of again.

Lord Sewel has said that the question of whether his behaviour breached the House of Lords code of conduct is technical. However, he has now resigned from the House of Lords, although he keeps the peerage he was given by the then Labour leader Tony Blair.

The Hebrew word "Torah" usually refers to the first five books of the Old Testament and means "instruction" or "teaching". The five books contain the law given by God to Moses. The root of the word "Torah" comes from "yarah" meaning to "shoot an arrow" or "hit the mark". The root of the word "sin" is the Greek word "hamartia" which means to "miss the mark". These Hebrew and Greek words remind us that the very nature of being a human being, means we are aiming for something. We may not even realise it, but the fact we are human puts a certain expectancy upon each one of us. There is a target, and whether we hit it or miss it, the goal we aim for is there. Should you personally miss the mark there are people around you who will let you know you have failed in your quest to shoot your arrow where it needs to go. And furthermore they will sometimes let you know, in no uncertain terms, that you ought to be careful where you are shooting those things because someone may get hurt.

Some people, like peers of the realm and church leaders are seen to be examples of what human beings ought to be. If we were ever visited by aliens from somewhere else in the universe, we would hold up our leaders and say to the aliens, "Look at this, alien visitors, this is what we are capable of, see what fine upstanding examples of humanity we show to you." So when a leader fails to hit the mark it is depressing for us all. We had thought that our leaders could lead the way, isn't that why they are called "leaders"?

We ourselves may not reach the heights of humans in high office, but we are just ordinary people. We may fail to hit the target but having leaders who can hit the mark lets us know that it is possible for a man or woman to attain the lofty height of being human, and therefore being human really is something special. A part of the message of Christianity is that there once was a man who walked on earth, who never once, failed to hit the target set for us, thereby giving hope to us all.