Dozens of Lords defend Tory peer who called colleague ‘Lord Poppadom’
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Catherine Meyer may receive three week suspension, which her defenders say goes against ‘principles of natural justice’. Dozens of members of the House of Lords have signed a letter protesting about the treatment of Catherine Meyer, the Conservative peer who is facing suspension for calling a British-Asian peer “Lord Poppadom” and touching an MP’s braids without permission.
The Tory peer Michael Forsyth and the cross-bencher Ruth Deech are among 27 members who signed a letter to the Telegraph on Tuesday complaining that Meyer’s punishment did not “adhere to the principles of natural justice”. A report published by the House of Lords conduct committee last week found Meyer referred to Navnit Dholakia, a Liberal Democrat peer, as “Lord Poppadom” twice during a visit to Rwanda this year with the joint committee on human rights (JCHR). The same report found she also touched the braids of the Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy without getting permission first.
Meyer’s colleagues, however, said she had been treated unfairly. According to the Telegraph they wrote: “The commissioner decides whether or not to investigate, carries out the investigation and decides, like a judge, what the consequences should be. The accused person may be accompanied at the investigation by a legal adviser, but the latter may not speak for them.
“There is no entitlement to cross-examination, even when the facts are disputed and occurred a long time ago. The allegation needs to be proved only on a balance of probabilities. There is no provision for all documents to be made available to both sides.”.
