A Tory baroness is facing a three week suspension from the House of Lords for calling a British-Asian peer “Lord Poppadom”.
Baroness Meyer was accused of being involved in two incidents of harassment “related to race” during a visit of the Joint Committee on Human Rights to Rwanda in February of this year.
The Lords’ Conduct Committee has recommended a three week suspension and “behaviour training” for Conservative Baroness Meyer after she used the derogatory term “Lord Poppadom” against Lord Dholakia in a taxi journey where he was present but didn’t hear the remarks.
Baroness Meyer’s actions were deemed a violation of harassment rules, as her remarks carried a “racial element”.
The Tory peer had previously denied the allegations, referring to them as “unfounded and baseless”. However, she later added “but I don’t remember” having drunk “possibly three glasses of wine.”
The report also rebuked the peer, who is the widow of former US ambassador Sir Christopher Meyer, for touching the hair of a black MP without waiting for permission.
Concluding the report, standards commissioner Martin Jelley said: “Due to the significance of Baroness Meyer’s breach of the Code of Conduct and the impact of her behaviour on the complainants, I consider a short suspension to be justified in the circumstances.
“Accordingly, I recommend that Baroness Meyer be suspended from the House for three weeks. In determining the length of suspension, I considered incident 1, where Baroness Meyer twice referred to Lord Dholakia as ‘Lord Poppadom’, to be the more serious of the two breaches, given the racial element to it.
“The recommended suspension is because of this breach. I also consider that behaviour training would be beneficial for Baroness Meyer, to address the specific behaviour in this case. I therefore recommend that Baroness Meyer undertake bespoke behaviour training provided by an approved external provider.”
A Conservative Party spokesman said: “Baroness Meyer has apologised for the distress caused to the complainants.
“The committee has recommended what they consider to be the appropriate sanction.”
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