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 consent.
Lady Catherine Meyer faces censure after two complaints were made about her behaviour 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 Southeast Asian origin.
Although he didn’t hear her, she was reprimanded by other committee members for her remarks.
She asked Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy if she may touch her braids after having a drink of wine with her lunch on the same Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR) trip in February, and she did so before getting a response.
Lady Mayer, 71, is the widow of the former UK ambassador to the US Sir Christopher Meyer. She was dignified 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 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 suggested a three-week break 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’.
So, MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy complained because someone touched her hair without their consent. I don’t suppose she thought of taking it up with Lady Meyer directly so that more important things could be moved on to, which being an MP, I guess she had lots of.
Inquisitiveness is a good thing, that’s how we learn about others’ cultures and customs, but I guess it was a tad rude and ignorant to touch without consent. Nevertheless, just a face-to-face apology would have been enough.
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 obtaining a response, and evidently, this had a negative effect. Was it really deserving of a complaint? It’s no surprise this country is now in the mess it’s in with these little children that we have controlling us.
However, what’s acceptable to one doesn’t mean it’s acceptable to another, and in life, we need to have empathy, and compassion, not ignorance. You do not touch another person without permission, and why dare to believe that you can? Perhaps Lady Catherine Meyer had more than one glass of wine with her chow which might have obscured her judgement.
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