A Tory peer has given up his CBE after the King ordered it to be “cancelled and annulled”.
Lord Rami Ranger has forfeited his CBE amid consideration of his social media posts, as well as having been found to have bullied and harassed a journalist. The Forfeiture Committee, which decides on whether to strip someone of an honour, is understood to have taken the decision after considering social media posts made by Lord Ranger about the Sikh community, along with comments in the media about Pakistanis.
The committee is also thought to have considered the House of Lords Standards Commissioner’s finding in June 2023 that Lord Ranger had harassed and bullied Indian journalist Poonam Joshi in a series of tweets.
Lord Ranger, who has donated around £1.5 million to the Conservative Party since 2009, was made a CBE in 2016 for services to business and community cohesion. He was later ennobled in 2019 in Theresa May’s resignation honours, but lost the Conservative whip after he was censured by the standards commissioner, when he lost the whip.
Lord Ranger apologised to Ms Joshi for his conduct, which included calling her “toxic”, “a total nutcase”, and “the epitome of filth and garbage”, after the Lords Standards Commissioner found he had bullied and harassed her. The Tories returned the whip to Lord Ranger in November this year.
In a report last year, the commissioner said: “There was an imbalance of power between Lord Ranger and Ms Joshi by reason of Lord Ranger’s authority, his public position as a member of the House of Lords, his wealth and his social standing, and his connections and associations with other senior political figures. He was acutely aware of this imbalance of power and abused it by persistently undermining, humiliating and denigrating Ms Joshi.” It added: “There is a clear pattern of behaviour involving the use of language that belittles and undermines Ms Joshi.”
While Lord Ranger apologised for his actions, the Forfeiture Committee is understood to have considered his behaviour combined with the fact he was made a CBE for his work on community cohesion meant it was appropriate for him to forfeit his honour.