A baroness has been recommended for three weeks’ suspension from the House of Lords for calling a peer “Lord Poppadom” and touching an MP’s braids without her permission.
Baroness Catherine Meyer is accused of referring to Lord Dholakia as “Lord Poppadom” twice during a taxi journey while on a visit to Rwanda with parliament’s Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR) in February.
During the same visit, the 71-year-old complimented Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy’s hair and asked if she could touch it.
Without waiting for a reply, Lady Meyer then lifted up one of Ms Ribeiro-Addy’s braids, a conduct report said.
Lady Meyer initially said the “Lord Poppadom” accusations were “unfounded” and “baseless”.
But after evidence from two witnesses, including Ms Ribeiro-Addy, she admitted the incident took place at the end of a long day and after a dinner where she had drunk “possibly three glasses of wine”.
She then acknowledged: “It is possible I said it, but I don’t remember.”
Lady Meyer did not deny the incident with Ms Ribeiro-Addy and said she had intended it as a friendly gesture and had been “entirely unaware” it would be unwelcome, the report said.
“Oh gosh, I did the wrong thing,” she said immediately after understanding the MP’s body language.
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