Proposals for stronger powers to suspend or expel errant members of the House of Lords cleared their latest parliamentary hurdle yesterday.

Baroness Hayman’s House of Lords (Expulsion and Suspension) Bill was tweaked in report stage as three amendments were made unopposed.

They included ensuring a peer can be reprimanded for behaviour that occurred before the law comes into force but becomes public afterwards.

The Bill has received government and Labour support in the Lords.

The Lords currently only has limited powers of expulsion — for those found guilty of offences subject to a prison sentence of more than a year — and suspension for the duration of the Parliament, which could amount to just a few months.

Under Lady Hayman’s Bill, a peer could be expelled or suspended for longer than the duration of a Parliament.