Lords plan to ambush Archer

Peers are plotting to embarrass Jeffrey Archer in the Lords after accepting that they cannot block his return to Westminster following his release from prison this month.

Parliamentary rules allow convicted peers to continue in the Lords once they leave jail.

Ministers have threatened to close the loophole, and MPs have demanded action, but there is no way of changing the law in time to bar Archer.

Instead, some peers are preparing to invoke a little-used rule to challenge his presence. When he rises to speak he could face a shout of: "I move that the noble lord be no more heard."

The debate would be suspended for half an hour while peers debated and voted on whether he should be allowed to contribute.

One senior Lords source said: "It's a bit heavy-handed, but if he started throwing his weight around I think somebody might use the device."

An alternative proposal, for peers to walk out when Lord Archer rises to speak, is also being discussed in the tea rooms and corridors of the House.

In the Commons, 53 MPs signed a motion calling for him to be barred, as an MP who served the same sentence would be.

Constitutional affairs minister Christopher Leslie said last month it remained to the Government's policy to close the loophole "in due course".

The other legal route is to strip him of his peerage but that would require an Act of Parliament. Lord Archer, a former Tory deputy chairman, is serving a five-year suspension from the party which was imposed following his conviction for perjury in 2001, but he is free under Lords rules to sit on the Tory benches.

His release is scheduled for 21 July, a few days after the Lords breaks up for the summer, so matters are expected to come to a head when the House returns in September.