Tory peer faces House suspension after calling Indian-origin member 'Lord Poppadom'

TOI correspondent from London: A Tory member of the House of Lords is facing suspension for referring to a fellow peer of Indian origin, Lord Dholakia, as “Lord Poppadom”, during a trip to Rwanda in February. The Lords' Conduct Committee recommended a three-week suspension for Baroness Catherine Meyer, 71, and bespoke behaviour training for comments amounting to harassment “related to race”. She has also been rebuked for touching a black MP’s hair without consent.

Meyer, the widow of former British ambassador to the US, Sir Christopher Meyer, initially denied using the term “Lord Poppadom” for Dholakia, a Tanzania-born Liberal Democrat, but later conceded she had drunk three glasses of wine and, “It is possible I said it, but I don’t remember”.

The Tory peer also admitted to touching the braids of Bell Ribeiro-Addy, a black Labour MP, during the same visit, without her consent. Meyer said she was unaware it would be considered racist.

The recommendations of the conduct committee will be voted on in the House of Lords.

Meyer is accused of referring to Dholakia as “Lord Poppadom” twice during a taxi journey on the Rwanda trip with the UK Parliament’s Joint Committee on Human Rights.

Meyer admitted that during a meeting in Kigali she had mistakenly referred to Dholakia as “Lord Popat”. She said she apologised twice for the slip and on the second occasion another member of the delegation misheard the apology to Dholakia and asked: “Did I just hear you call him Lord Poppadom? Is this how we should address him from now on?” Meyers said Dholakia seemed amused at this.

She said she recalled Ribeiro-Addy telling her in the taxi that calling Dholakia “Lord Poppadom” was racist and said she replied it was all meant as a joke. “I never called him the name Poppadom a single time,” she initially said.

However, Ribeiro-Addy said in her evidence that she heard Meyer call Dholakia “Lord Poppadom” “more than once”.

Dholakia, who submitted a formal complaint against Meyer to the House’s commissioners for standards, Martin Jelley, said he did not hear Meyer call him “Lord Poppadom”, but other members of the trip told him that she had called him that and he felt “shocked” and “very uncomfortable”.

The commissioner concluded, on the balance of probabilities, that Meyer had twice referred to Dholakia as “Lord Poppadom”.

Meanwhile, Ribeiro-Addy, who made a separate complaint against Meyer to the commissioner about the baroness touching her hair, said the incident left her very upset as it emphasised the idea black hair is a novelty.

“She asked for my consent. I did not grant it. She did it anyway… It’s that feeling that you can do whatever you want; you own me,” Ribeiro-Addy said.