LONDON: British Sikh peer Kulveer Ranger faces a year-long ban from all House of Lords bars and a three-week suspension from the House Lords after a committee found that he “bullied and harassed” two women in a parliamentary bar while drunk.
Lord Ranger of Northwood (49), a London-born Sikh who was made a life peer in 2023, resigned the Tory whip after the House of Lords conduct committee, responsible for investigating breaches of conduct, recommended he be suspended from the House of Lords for three weeks and denied access to bars in the House of Lords for 12 months.The committee has invited the House of Commons to consider a similar ban on its bars.
The House will now be asked to agree the report and sanctions, which follow an investigation by House of Lords Commissioner for Standards Martin Jelley. It found that Ranger approached a group of people in the House of Commons Strangers’ Bar on Jan 17, 2024 despite not knowing them. He was visibly drunk, stumbling around and asked the female members of the group how old they were and whether a publication they were discussing “had porn in it”.
He approached the same group a short while later when two of the women asked him about his work prior to joining the House of Lords and what his interests were. Affronted, he said: “Why do you ask people these questions? You need to ask better questions.” He then shouted and swore at them, raising his voice and called them “useless” and to “do some research.”
One of the women said he was physically intimidating, repeatedly jabbed his finger towards them and roughly grabbed their parliamentary passes to see where they worked. She said his behaviour felt like “an abuse of power”. “I think he was upset we didn’t know who he was. It was an ego thing,” she said.
“Towards the end of our conversation, I was shaking,” the other woman said.
The two women subsequently submitted a complaint about him.
Ranger sent a written apology to both complainants saying it was out of character and he was dealing with family health issues at the time. He apologised to the conduct committee and expressed shock and remorse over his behaviour. He said he did not remember the incident but recalled drinking several glasses of wine.
Lord Ranger of Northwood (49), a London-born Sikh who was made a life peer in 2023, resigned the Tory whip after the House of Lords conduct committee, responsible for investigating breaches of conduct, recommended he be suspended from the House of Lords for three weeks and denied access to bars in the House of Lords for 12 months.The committee has invited the House of Commons to consider a similar ban on its bars.
The House will now be asked to agree the report and sanctions, which follow an investigation by House of Lords Commissioner for Standards Martin Jelley. It found that Ranger approached a group of people in the House of Commons Strangers’ Bar on Jan 17, 2024 despite not knowing them. He was visibly drunk, stumbling around and asked the female members of the group how old they were and whether a publication they were discussing “had porn in it”.
He approached the same group a short while later when two of the women asked him about his work prior to joining the House of Lords and what his interests were. Affronted, he said: “Why do you ask people these questions? You need to ask better questions.” He then shouted and swore at them, raising his voice and called them “useless” and to “do some research.”
One of the women said he was physically intimidating, repeatedly jabbed his finger towards them and roughly grabbed their parliamentary passes to see where they worked. She said his behaviour felt like “an abuse of power”. “I think he was upset we didn’t know who he was. It was an ego thing,” she said.
“Towards the end of our conversation, I was shaking,” the other woman said.
The two women subsequently submitted a complaint about him.
Ranger sent a written apology to both complainants saying it was out of character and he was dealing with family health issues at the time. He apologised to the conduct committee and expressed shock and remorse over his behaviour. He said he did not remember the incident but recalled drinking several glasses of wine.