#Suspended British Indian peer called ‘Lord Poppadom’ results in House of Lords suspension for Baroness

Baroness Catherine Meyer, a Conservative party peer, is facing a three week suspension from the House of lords for calling her Liberal Democrat colleague Lord Navnit Dholakia as “Lord Poppadom” and touching an MP’s braids without consent.

Catherine Meyer was found to have breached harassment rules in her interactions with Lord Dholakia and MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy during a visit to Rwanda with the Joint Committee on Human Rights, where she was a member.

It is claimed that Baroness Meyer referred to Lord Dholakia as “Lord Poppadom” during a taxi journey, despite having previously apologized for mistakenly calling him “Lord Popat,” a different peer of South Asian descent.

Baroness Meyer initially denied the allegation, but after hearing witness evidence said the incident took place at the end of a long day after she had drunk “possibly three glasses of wine”, the Lords’ Conduct Committee said.

Lord Dholakia expressed that the comment left him feeling “very annoyed” and “very angry,” adding that he found it deeply offensive to be addressed in such a manner.

27 of members of the House of Lords including The Tory peer Michael Forsyth and the cross-bencher Ruth Deech have signed a letter to the Telegraph on Tuesday complaining that Meyer’s punishment did not “adhere to the principles of natural justice”.

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