Conservative Baroness Catherine Meyer faces being suspended for three weeks after calling Lord Dholakia ‘Lord Poppadom’ during a trip to Rwanda earlier this year
A Tory baroness faces a three-week suspension for making an offensive remark to a British-Asian peer during a visit to Rwanda.
Baroness Catherine Meyer was found to have breached harassment rules with her behaviour towards Lord Dholakia during a visit to Rwanda with the Joint Committee on Human Rights. The 63-year-old called Lord Dholakia “Lord Poppadom” during a taxi ride on the trip.
Lady Meyer initially denied the allegation, but faced with witness evidence she admitted she said it. She said the incident took place at the end of a long day when she had drunk “possibly three glasses of wine”. The Lords’ Conduct Committee recommended suspending Lady Meyer for three weeks over her comments, which amounted to harassment “related to race”.
In a separate incident on the same visit in February, Conservative Lady Meyer complimented MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy’s hair and asked her if she could touch it, without waiting for a reply or permission. The facts of the incident involving the Labour MP for Clapham and Brixton Hill were not disputed, the committee said.
Ms Ribeiro-Addy said it had made her feel “extremely uncomfortable” and “as if she could just do whatever she wanted”. She said: “The idea I would do that to another woman, particularly a white woman, ask her if it’s hers, ask to touch it and make a big deal out of it, it just wouldn’t happen.”
In response to Ms Ribeiro-Addy’s complaint, Lady Meyer said she had intended a friendly gesture, and had been unaware it would be unwelcome. “Oh gosh, I did the wrong thing,” she said immediately after understanding the MP’s body language.
The report noted Lady Meyer had apologised for her actions in both cases
The Conduct Committee said in the report: “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.”
The commissioner 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 behaviour training would be beneficial for Baroness Meyer, to address the specific behaviour in this case. I therefore recommend Baroness Meyer undertake bespoke behaviour training provided by an approved external provider.”
