Union bosses are already threatening to withdraw funding from the Labour Party and fight campaigns with

Union bosses are already threatening to withdraw funding from the Labour Party and fight campaigns with other political groups, including the Liberal Democrat Party.. Jeffrey Archer’s woes were compounded yesterday with fresh allegations of illegal business deals, more threats to withdraw his peerage – and the agony of burying his mother. Jeffrey Archer’s woes were compounded yesterday with fresh allegations of illegal business deals, more threats to withdraw his peerage – and the agony of burying his mother.The millionaire novelist and Tory peer was briefly released from Belmarsh Prison to attend his mother’s funeral near his Cambridgeshire home. At the same time, it emerged that the Department of Trade and Industry had been targeting Archer for insider dealing even before the 1994 inquiry into his transactions in Anglia Television shares.The Independent on Sunday has learnt that DTI inspectors looked into several allegations of share-buying, in a number of companies, said to have been on his behalf. There was, as in the Anglia case, insufficient evidence for prosecution. Now the DTI is braced for further allegations and will investigate if new information is obtained.Archer could also face an Inland Revenue inquiry into allegations that he organised movements of cash without paying tax. And the Metropolitan Police are deciding if they will press charges over claims that money was stolen from £57m raised in aid for Kurds.Labour MP Harry Cohen plans a Bill which would strip Archer of his peerage.

Robin Cook, Leader of the House of Commons, hinted that he would consider legislation.Yesterday, without handcuffs but escorted by plainclothes guards, Archer joined his wife, Mary, and his two sons, William and James, for the cremation of Lola Archer Haynes, who died on Monday aged 87. Archer, arriving at Cambridge crematorium, swapped a white prison van for a stretch Mercedes. After a 20-minute service the family returned to his home, the Old Vicarage, Grantchester, where Archer changed into a black suit. He then led the procession to the church for a memorial service.He sat in view of the Ten Commandments, including God’s injunctions against adultery and bearing false witness Then he was driven back to Belmarsh Prison.. The Tory leadership candidates Kenneth Clarke and Iain Duncan Smith last night joined calls for Jeffrey Archer to be barred from his seat in the Lords because of his conviction for perjury. The Tory leadership candidates Kenneth Clarke and Iain Duncan Smith last night joined calls for Jeffrey Archer to be barred from his seat in the Lords because of his conviction for perjury.The pressure could force the Government to support backbench moves to introduce a law in the next session of Parliament to bar convicted criminals from sitting in the upper house.A Labour MP, Harry Cohen, told The Independent on Sunday he will introduce a Bill in the autumn to end the anomaly allowing peers to sit in the Lords in spite of a criminal record while MPs automatically are disqualified from the Commons.

“It’s ridiculous that Archer could return to the Lords,” Mr Cohen said.In a surprise move, Labour demands for action were supported by Mr Clarke. He said: “The man [Archer] obviously turned out to be a crook. If this sentence stands he has quite rightly got to serve his time in prison and ought to leave the House of Lords.”Mr Clarke added: “People do get their honours taken away … it’s a bit odd that you don’t lose your peerage.”Mr Duncan Smith said: “He [Archer] should no longer be allowed to participate in the legislature. And if that means also stripping away his title then so be it.” Robin Cook, the Leader of the Commons, hinted that the Government could introduce a ban as part of long-term Lords reform, but the pressure could force it to act more quickly.Meanwhile, The Independent on Sunday has learnt Archer was investigated about a series of alleged insider deals before the Department of Trade’s inquiry into the trading of Anglia Television shares by a friend.