The Tories have quietly re-admitted a peer who was banned from Parliament bars for drunkenly bullying people.
Lord Ranger of Northwood resigned the party whip after a Lords conduct committee report found he had “acted aggressively, shouting and swearing” in Parliament’s Strangers’ Bar in January. He was installed in the Lords in Boris Johnson’s resignation honours list, and was a former adviser to the ousted PM.
The report said Ranger had been “visibly drunk” and made “various inappropriate comments” before “invading their personal space”.
He was suspended from the House of Lords for three weeks from July 18, when the motion was moved in the House, and remains banned from Parliament bars until next May. The Lords Standards Commissioner recommended he be suspended from the House for a week, but the conduct committee tripled the length of the suspension because his behaviour was “particularly serious”.
But after resigning it in May, the Tory whip was quietly restored to Lord Ranger in August. Ranger apologised to the two complainants, saying he did not recall the incident but was “deeply mortified at the descriptions of my behaviour”.
A witness recalled seeing the two complainants “trying to calm Lord Ranger down throughout but he was intoxicated and only getting more aggressive”. He had asked the group if a publication was “a porn magazine”, before trying to hold one of their hands.
Another witness recalled overhearing Ranger tell the complainants to “think about who they might be f*****g talking to” and that they should “do their f*****g research”.
The Conservative Party declined to comment.
In a letter to the complainants following the report, Lord Ranger said: ““I am deeply mortified at the descriptions of my behaviour. I must say I have little recollection of the incident but that is in no way to diminish how you both have described my actions or how they made you feel.
“I really want to take this opportunity to say that this is not the type of behaviour or conduct I have maintained in my entire life, and I do not recognise the behaviour described to be at all in keeping with my character. I have, and aim to maintain, the utmost respect and courtesy for all individuals I meet and work with and have done so in my professional and personal life. I have never behaved in this manner with anyone before, it is completely out of character for me.
“With regards to this incident, if I in anyway upset or offended you, I again sincerely apologise. I am extremely saddened to hear that I caused you any distress. Throughout my life I have never seen it fit to behave in an aggressive or rude manner. I can only add that I have had a variety of very concerning health issues for both my children and wife during December and January that have been very stressful and taken a significant toll on my physical capacity and mental health, and may have had some bearing on my wholly uncharacteristic outburst and responses to your questions, for which again I am extremely sorry.”