UK peer faces suspension for calling Indian-origin colleague 'Lord Poppadom'

London: A Conservative Party peer in the UK Parliament has been recommended for a three-week suspension and behaviour training after the House of Lords Conduct Committee noted that she had been “offensive and insulting” in referring to an Indian-origin colleague as “Lord Poppadom”.

Baroness Catherine Meyer was accused of referencing Lord Navnit Dholakia, a Tanzania-born Liberal Democrat peer of Indian heritage, in a “derogatory” way during a visit to Rwanda as fellow members of a parliamentary committee earlier this year. A report published on Thursday on the conduct of Baroness Meyer upheld the complaint of harassment with a “racial element” in relation to her conduct towards the octogenarian Lord Dholakia, who is 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 behaviour on the complainants, I consider a short suspension to be justified in the circumstances,” reads the report.

“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,” it notes.

“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,” it adds.

Two separate incidents gave rise to the case during a visit of the Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR) to Rwanda in February 2024. The first incident occurred when during the visit Meyer mistakenly addressed Dholakia as “Lord Popat”, another Indian-origin member of the House of Lords.

She is said to have immediately apologised and the matter seemed to be closed, but it was later reported to Dholakia by others on the tour that she had subsequently twice referred to him as “Lord Poppadom” during a taxi journey. Although he did not hear these remarks at the time, he heard the response of others who were 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 as a member of the JCHR alongside Meyer and went on to submit his formal complaint to the Commissioners for Standards in April.

“I find that Baroness Meyer twice referring to Lord Dholakia as ‘Lord Poppadom’ constituted harassment within the definition in the Code of Conduct,” notes the conduct report.

Another incident from the same visit involved Labour MP of Ghanaian descent Bell Ribeiro-Addy, who was asked by Meyer if she could touch her braided hair. Without waiting for a reply or for permission, the accused is said to have reached out and lifted one of Ribeiro-Addy’s braids.

“I find that Baroness Meyer touching Bell Ribeiro-Addy’s hair without consent constituted harassment within the definition in the Code of Conduct,” the report notes.

It records that Meyer has demonstrated remorse for her actions and a willingness to apologise. After her first interview, she followed up with a written note to “sincerely apologise for any distress” caused and said that she “never intended to be disrespectful, unkind, or insensitive”. However, the report goes on to record that Meyer twice using the phrase “Lord Poppadom” to refer to Lord Dholakia related to a protected characteristic of race and was therefore an “aggravating factor”.