Northern Ireland Secretary of State Peter Hain has written to the Speaker of the House of Commons to demand an apology from the Plaid Cymru MP Elfin Llwyd.

Mr Llwyd, the MP for Meirionnydd Nant in Conwy, had invoked parliamentary privilege to allege that Mr Hain had offered a peerage to an independent MP in an attempt to stop him standing against a labour candidate in the general election.

However, the allegation was subsequently refuted by ITV footage of an interview with the MP Peter Law in which he stated that he had never been offered a job in the House of Lords.

Mr Hain described the charge as a “preposterous lie” and said that he could not understand why the allegation had been made as Mr Law had never raised the charge himself.

Mr Law the MP for Blaenau in Gwent died last week following a long battle with cancer.

Mr Hain, who is the Welsh Secretary, described the episode as “grubby” and said that he wished to get on with “decent politics.”

However, it was reported today that Mr Llwyd was unrepentant and claimed that two other people knew that Mr Law had been offered a peerage. Mr Llwyd said he had written to the speaker of the House of Commons.

(SP/GB)