A Conservative Party peer in the UK Parliament has been recommended a three-week suspension and behavioral training after the House of Lords conduct committee noted that calling an Indian-origin peer “Lord Poppadom” was “disrespectful and insulting”. ” Was. ,
Baroness Catherine Mayer was accused of referring to Liberal Democrat peer Lord Navneet Dholakia, of Tanzanian-born Indian heritage, in a “derogatory” manner during a visit to Rwanda as fellow members of a parliamentary committee earlier this year. A report published on Thursday into Baroness Mayer’s conduct upheld a complaint of harassment with a “racial element” in relation to her conduct towards octogenarian Lord Dholakia, the deputy leader of the Lib Dems in the House of Lords.
“Due to the significance of Baroness Meyer’s breach of the code of conduct and the impact of her behavior on the complainants, I consider a short suspension to be appropriate in the circumstances,” the report said.
“Accordingly, I recommend that Baroness Mayer be suspended from the House for three weeks. In determining the period of suspension, I considered Incident 1, where Baroness Mayer twice referred to Lord Dholakia as ‘Lord Poppadom’. “This was deemed the more serious of the two violations and, given the racial element involved, a suspension is recommended due to this violation,” it notes.
“I also believe that behavioral training to address the specific behavior in this case would be beneficial for Baroness Meyer. I therefore recommend that Baroness Meyer undertakes specialist behavioral training provided by an approved external provider.”
Two separate incidents gave rise to the case during the visit of the Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR) to Rwanda in February 2024. The first incident occurred when during the visit Mayer mistakenly addressed Dholakia, another Indian-origin member, as “Lord Popat”. Of the House of Lords.
He is said to have immediately apologized and it seemed the matter would be over, but others on the tour later told the drummer that he had twice referred to them as “Lord Popedom” during the taxi ride. Although he did not hear these comments at the time, he heard the reactions of other people in the taxi.
Lord Dholakia is said to have felt “shocked” and “very uncomfortable” and stated in his complaint that he felt he could not continue working with the mayor as a member of the JCHR and he complained to the Standards Commissioners in April. Submitted your formal complaint. ,
“I consider that Baroness Mayer twice referred to Lord Dholakia as ‘Lord Popedom’, which constitutes harassment within the definition of the Code of Conduct,” the conduct report said.
Another incident on the same visit involved Ghanaian Labor MP Bell Ribeiro-Eddie, who was asked by the mayor if she could touch his braided hair. Without waiting for a reply or permission, the accused is said to have stepped forward and picked up one of Ribeiro-Eddy’s braids.
“I consider that Baroness Mayer touching Bel Ribeiro-Eddie’s hair without consent constitutes harassment under the definition of the Code of Conduct,” the report said.
It records that the mayor has demonstrated remorse and willingness to apologize for his actions. After his first interview, he wrote a written note “sincerely apologizing for any distress” and saying that he “never intended to be disrespectful, unkind or insensitive”. However, the report recorded that Mayer had twice used the phrase “Lord Popedom” to refer to Lord Drummer, which was related to a protected characteristic of the breed and was therefore an “aggravating factor”.
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