SNP MP threatens legal action against Metropolitan Police

Pete Wishart, MP for Perth and North Perthshire, has said he will take legal action if the London police force refuse to investigate alleged corruption in the appointing of peers.

Pete Wishart, who is also the SNP’s shadow commons leader, previously wrote to Dame Cressida expressing his concern about “criminal misconduct” by PM Boris Johnson, and previous Prime Ministers as well as other senior Conservatives.

An investigation by the Sunday Times and openDemocracy, It found 15 of the last 16 Conservative Party treasurers have been offered a Lords seat after each donating in excess of £3 million to the party.

Wishart claims there could be breaches of the law under the Honours (Prevention of Abuses) Act 1925.

Acting with the Good Law Project, Wishart said: “The casual and indifferent refusal by the Met Police to investigate the latest cash for honours is a dereliction of duty. We have written to them to say if they do not give the reasons for a refusal to investigate we will take action to have this judicially reviewed”.

A pre-action protocol has now been lodged against the force, which requests that the Met shares the information and documents it considered before taking the decision against investigating.

The Met said it will respond to the pre-action protocol letter “in due course”.