Baroness faces suspension over offensive racial remark

A baroness who called a peer of Indian origin "Lord Poppadom" is facing a suspension from the House of Lords after an investigation found her comments amounted to harassment "related to race".

The Lords' Conduct Committee recommended suspending Conservative Baroness Meyer for three weeks.

It also rebuked her for touching a black MP's hair without permission. She initially denied making the remarks, but later apologised for both incidents.

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said people should "treat each other with respect".

The committee also recommended suspending Lord Stone of Blackheath, a former Labour peer, for six months for bullying, after he called security staff "thick" and "stupid".

The committee upheld a complaint that Lady Meyer twice used the derogatory term to refer to Lord Dholakia during a taxi ride during a visit to Rwanda with parliament's Joint Committee on Human Rights in February.

The comments came after Lady Meyer had earlier mistaken him for Lord Popat, another peer of southeast Asian heritage, the report states.

Lord Dholakia was in the car but did not initially hear the comments. Others on the committee confronted her over the remarks, including Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy, the report heard.

Lady Meyer initially denied using the term, but faced with evidence from two witnesses she admitted she may have said it - blaming a long day and a dinner where she drank "possibly three glasses of wine".

The investigation found Lady Meyer's behaviour towards Lord Dholakia had breached harassment rules with a "racial element".

She then asked Ribeiro-Addy if she could touch her braids, and did so before receiving a reply.

Ribeiro-Addy said she laughed off the incident but said it made her feel "extremely uncomfortable".

Lady Meyer said she saw Ribeiro-Addy's reaction and instantly regretted her actions.

The report noted that she had apologised for her actions in both cases.

Alongside the three-week suspension, the committee recommended Lady Meyer be made to take bespoke behaviour training.

Catherine Meyer, who is 71, co-founded International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children and is the widow of the former UK ambassador to the US Sir Christopher Meyer.

She was appointed to the House of Lords by Theresa May in 2018.

Asked about the committee's findings during a visit to Essex on Friday, Badenoch said it was important the rulings were followed.

"We need to make sure that we all treat each other with respect at all times," she added.

Earlier, Conservative peer Lord Greenhalgh said he was "surprised and disappointed" by Lady Meyer's comments.

"The use of that sort of language is not what I would have expected from my Conservative colleague," he told the BBC.

After a separate investigation the committee called for Lord Stone to be suspended for six months after finding he had bullied parliamentary security staff.

The former Marks and Spencer executive admitted to using an "aggressive" tone when contacted by security staff after leaving his suitcase unattended by an entrance to the parliamentary estate, contrary to the rules.

The report said: "In subsequent exchanges with security officers, on the telephone and in person, Lord Stone raised his voice, gesticulated, spoke over them and described (an officer) as 'thick and stupid'."

He refused to move his suitcase and used rude and offensive language.

Lord Stone appealed against an initial investigation by the Lords' Standards Commissioner that found he had bullied the staff, but the Conduct Committee upheld the findings.

He had previously been found to have sexually harassed staff by the Commissioner in 2019, leading to him losing the Labour whip.

After two allegations against him were upheld, he agreed to take part in a course of "bespoke training and behaviour coaching sessions".

In Thursday's report, the committee said: "The present case demonstrates that the clear pattern of Lord Stone's poor behaviour continues.

"Despite the hope we expressed in 2020, Lord Stone appears to have no greater insight into his behaviour now than he did then.

"His continued inability to control his behaviour and to treat staff with respect and courtesy is unacceptable."

Peers need to approve the sanctions before they can be implemented, with votes to do so expected early in 2025.