Tory baroness facing Lords ban for calling Asian peer 'Lord Poppadom'

A Tory peer is facing a three-week ban from the House of Lords for referring to a British-Asian peer as 'Lord Poppadom' and touching the hair of a black MP without permission.

Lady Catherine Meyer faces censure after two complains were made about her conduct during a visit by parliamentarians to Rwanda earlier this year.

The Lords Conduct Committee upheld a complaint that she referred to Lord Dholakia as 'Lord Poppadom' twice during a taxi ride, having earlier referred to him as 'Lord Popat' - a different peer of south east Asian heritage.

He did not hear her, but other members of the committee remonstrated with her after she made the comments.  

Later on the same trip by the Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR) in February, she asked Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy if she could touch her braids after having a glass of wine with her lunch, and did so before receiving a reply. 

Lady Mayer, 71, is the widow of the former UK ambassador to the US Sir Christopher Meyer. She was en-nobled in 2018.

The report noted that she had apologised for her actions in both cases. As well as being banned for three weeks she will also have to undergo mandatory training. 

In his report, the The Lords Commissioner for Standards said: 'It is clear from both Lord Dholakia's and Bell Ribeiro-Addy's complaints and interviews that the incident had a significant negative effect on each of them.

'The incident clearly upset them both, to the point where neither felt comfortable being a member of the same committee as Baroness Meyer.'

Ms Ribeiro-Addy told the inquiry she would probably have refused the 'strange' request from the peer if given the chance. 

'It made me feel extremely uncomfortable. It made me feel as if she could just do whatever she wanted,' she said.

'I definitely found it violating because, as I said, I wouldn't anywhere reach out and just grab my colleague's hair.' 

In responding to Ms Ribeiro-Addy's complaint, Lady Meyer said that she had intended a friendly gesture, and had been unaware that it would be unwelcome.

She said she understood from the MP's subsequent body language that: 'Oh, gosh, I did the wrong thing'.

The commissioner recommended a three-week suspension from the Lords as a sanction, describing the racial element in the first case as an 'aggravating' factor, as well as for Lady Meyer to undertake 'bespoke behaviour training'.

In a report published on Thursday, the Conduct Committee said: '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 had 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.'

Baroness Meyer has been contacted for comment.