Sunday 21 November 2021 3:56 pm

Met faces legal challenge after it doesn’t investigate Tory cash for peerages claims

TOPSHOT – Britain’s Prince Charles, Prince of Wales sits with Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, as she waits to deliver the Queen’s Speech on the The Sovereign’s Throne in the House of Lords chamber, during the State Opening of Parliament in the Houses of Parliament in London on December 19, 2019. – The State Opening of Parliament is where Queen Elizabeth II performs her ceremonial duty of informing parliament about the government’s agenda for the coming year in a Queen’s Speech. (Photo by Leon Neal / POOL / AFP) (Photo by LEON NEAL/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

The Metropolitan Police is facing a legal challenge over its decision to not investigate claims that the Tory party systemically gives peerages to its largest donors.

The Metropolitan Police will not investigate research done by the Sunday times/OpenDemocracy that showed the past 16 Tory party treasurers, who have all donated more than £3m to the party, had been offered seats in the House of Lords.

Among the former Tory treasurers to have been offered a peerage is City billionaire Lord Peter Cruddas, who has given the party almost £4m.

The Scottish National Party complained about the story to Scotland Yard on the grounds that the party could have broken the 1925 Honours (Prevention of Abuses) Act, which makes it illegal for people to swap money for peerages.

The Met said there was insufficient evidence to launch a formal investigation.

The SNP and campaign Good Law Project are now launching a challenge to the Met’s decision, according to the Sunday Times.

Lawyers working on the case said there was “significant evidence to suggest that multiple offences might have occurred”.

SNP MP Peter Wishart is leading the challenge for the party, alongside the Good Law Project’s Jolyon Maugham.