Tory peer faces three-week suspension for calling British-Asian colleague 'Lord Poppadom'
12 December 2024, 17:02
A Tory baroness is facing a three-week suspension from the House of Lords after calling a British-Asian peer “Lord Poppadom” and touching a Black female MP's hair.
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Baroness Meyer, the 71-year-old widow of former US ambassador Sir Christopher Meyer, was accused of two separate incidents during a visit of the Joint Committee on Human Rights to Rwanda in February of this year.
The House of Lords Conduct Committee, the chamber’s standard’s watchdog, found that she called Lord Dholakia "Lord Poppadom", who is of south-Asian heritage, on two separate occasions.
The baroness now faces a three-week suspension from the House, alongside additional "behaviour training".
The report concludes that she mistakenly addressed Lord Dholakia as "Lord Popat" before she "immediately apologised".
Lord Dholakia says he didn't hear the remarks himself, but other members of the group who were present in the taxi said they heard her call him "Lord Poppadom" twice, the watchdog said.
Baroness Meyer’s behaviour was found to be a breach of harassment rules as comments about Lord Dholakia had a "racial element".
The Tory peer initially denied the accusations, claiming there were "unfounded and baseless". She later admitted that she may have said it “but I don't remember", as she had drunk "possibly three glasses of wine".
Baroness Meyer was also found to have touched MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy’s hair without permission.
The MP complained that one evening on the same trip Baroness Meyer complimented her hair and asked if she could touch it.
Then "without waiting for a reply or for permission Lady Meyer then reached out and lifted one of Ms Ribeiro-Addy’s braids", the report said.
The MP wrote in her complaint: "With every week and every request to just write my complaint I grew angrier and more distressed about the situation."
"Unable to put the complaint into words without becoming very upset."
There was "no malicious or racist intention" in the incident concerning Ms Ribeiro-Addy, the watchdog argued.
She told the watchdog she immediately understood from Ribeiro-Addy’s body language that she “did the wrong thing”.
Read more: Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby says a 'head had to roll' in final House of Lords speech
The Conduct Committee wrote in its report published on Thursday: “We have carefully considered the Commissioner’s report and his proposed sanction. "
Taking all the relevant factors into account, we endorse his recommended sanction, and accordingly recommend to the House that Baroness Meyer be suspended from the service of the House for three weeks, and that she undertake bespoke behaviour training.”
Last week, Tory peer Lord Rami Ranger was stripped of his CBE after the Lords standards watchdog found he bullied and harassed a journalist on social media.
A spokesperson for Lord Ranger said the he "has not committed any crime nor has he broken any law, where the majority of the people who have had their honour revoked in this way have committed a crime or broken the law".
"It is a sad indictment that the honours system which is designed to empower individuals who go the extra mile and, as a result, contribute a great deal to the nation should be used to curtail the basic fundamental rights of free speech and thought process," the spokesperson added.
