A NORTHERN Irish peer who shouted abuse at parliamentary staff and then used homophobic language after an SNP MP intervened could be suspended from the Lords. 

After forgetting his pass Lord Ken Maginnis called staff “crooked” as they wouldn't let him in.

The independent Ulster Unionist shouted at them and questioned why they did not know who he was after 46 years in parliament.

Hannah Bardell, who witnessed the peer’s temper tantrum told Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle it was “one of the worst cases of abuse of security staff that I have seen in my time here”.

In an extraordinary tirade, the Lord then told the Huffington Post: “[It] would probably all have blown over except this Bardell woman decided to get herself a bit of publicity.

“She and I are known to be on other sides – I am opposed to abortion, I am opposed to gay people like her seeking to change marriage.

“You might say I’m old-fashioned, or you could say I’m conservative in Biblical terms – I mean I’m not a preacher or anything.

“She obviously being what she is and wanting to make changes decided she would score a few points for herself.

“With no disrespect I have had a lot of experience before politics ...

“I was a major for 12 years in the Ulster Defence Regiment in Northern Ireland, I survived 10 assassination attempts, so I’m not altogether a softie if you know what I mean by that.

“Queers like Ms Bardell don’t particularly annoy me.

“Okay, she’s got her cheap publicity out of it.”

Now the Lords Conduct Committee has recommended Lord Maginnis be suspended for 18 months. 

He was found to have breached the Code of Conduct in his behaviour towards four complainants, including using "homophobic and offensive" language.

The Lords Conduct Committee said he should also take "behaviour training".

The ban should be extended beyond 18 months if Lord Maginnis did not "engage constructively" with this, it added.

The Lords Commissioner for Standards, Lucy Scott-Moncrief, recommended a ban of nine months.

He appealed against this, but the committee found he had shown "very little insight into the impact of his behaviour on the complainants, and no remorse for the upset he had caused."

Instead, it added, he had "portrayed himself as a victim of a conspiracy… and continued to refer to the complainants in a disobliging and sometimes offensive manner".

The House of Lords will decide on December 7 whether to bring the ban into force.

Hannah Bardell said: “I’m very glad that the authorities in the House of Lords have taken this matter so seriously and have huge respect and appreciation for the very thorough job the Lords Commissioner and her team have done in investigating the actions and behaviour of Lord Maginnis.

"I am incredibly grateful to all who have supported me through this grim affair including my own constituency staff, my family, and both my current and former partner whom I was with when I received death threats earlier this year, and who was also deeply impacted by the events following Lord Maginnis’s behaviour towards me.

"The extent of Lord Maginnis’s behaviour is now laid bare for all to read and my goodness is it a worrying and depressing read. That someone who is in a position of such power and influence and who is a lawmaker, can think it appropriate to behave in such a manner is truly astonishing. I was particularly struck and saddened by the testimony of the security guard who was bullied by Lord Maginnis. I witnessed this as it happened and attempted to intervene. 

"The episode has clearly had a very profound and negative impact on this member of staff who was only trying to do his job. Our security staff on the estate do incredibly important work, every day, to keep us safe. All of the staff on the estate deserve our full respect and the very least we can do is wear our security badges."