Conservative peer Lord Rami Ranger has been stripped of his CBE by the King over harassments of a journalist and derogatory remarks about minority groups.
A notice published in the London Gazette on Friday said Charles III had directed that the businessman’s Commander of the Order of the British Empire would be ‘cancelled and annulled’.
Lord Ranger, who has donated around £1.5 million to the Conservative Party since 2009, was handed the gong in 2016 for services to business and community cohesion.
He was later ennobled in 2019 in Theresa May‘s resignation honours, but briefly lost the Conservative whip last year after he was censured by the standards commissioner over his conduct towards an Indian journalist, Poonam Joshi.
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.
But the Forfeiture Committee, which decides on whether to strip someone of an honour, is understood to have taken the decision after considering the case, and social media posts he made about the Sikh community, along with comments in the media about Pakistanis.
PA understands that while Lord Ranger apologised for his actions, the Forfeiture Committee 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.
A spokesman for the peer said he had not committed any crime or broken any law and was ‘devastated’ to lose his CBE, adding: ”It is a sad indictment that the honours system which is designed to empower individuals who go the extra mile and as a result contribute a great deal to the nation should be used to curtail the basic fundamental rights of free speech and thought process.’
Lord Ranger, who has donated around £1.5 million to the Conservative Party since 2009, was handed the gong in 2016 for services to business and community cohesion.
Lord Ranger was a key supporter Rishi Sunak’s campaign to become Tory leader in 2022. He said Britain will be seen as ‘racist’ if the Conservatives fail to elect him, and choosing Liz Truss over the ex-chancellor would give the nation and the party ‘a bad name’.
He was ennobled in 2019 in Theresa May ‘s resignation honours, but briefly lost the Conservative whip last year after he was censured by the standards commissioner over his conduct towards an Indian journalist, Poonam Joshi.
Lord Ranger was a key supporter Rishi Sunak’s campaign to become Tory leader in 2022. He said Britain will be seen as ‘racist’ if the Conservatives fail to elect him, and choosing Liz Truss over the ex-chancellor would give the nation and the party ‘a bad name’.
Following a complaint from Ms Joshi, House of Lords Standards Commissioner Akbar Khan found Lord Ranger had bullied and harassed her by ‘persistently undermining, humiliating and denigrating’ the journalist and questioning her status and upbringing.
Mr Khan also found the peer had made disparaging comments to Ms Joshi during the Diwali event in 2022, including remarks such as ‘know your place’ and ‘don’t try to be too big for your shoes’, although Mr Khan said it was unlikely that he had shouted these words as Ms Joshi had claimed.
But he also found that Ms Joshi, a reporter for Indian network ABP News, bore some responsibility for continuing the dispute.
He said: ‘While I consider Ms Joshi’s upset at Lord Ranger’s conduct to be genuine, the relevant circumstances of this case demonstrate that there has been fault on both sides. I therefore do not consider that it is reasonable for Ms Joshi to consider that Lord Ranger is solely responsible for the unpleasant environment arising from their interactions, both in person and online.
‘The initial disagreement at the Diwali event escalated considerably because of the public way in which both parties chose to handle it, which only caused hurt, upset and humiliation to both parties.
‘While I can appreciate why Ms Joshi was upset, much of her social media activity appeared to be focused on harming Lord Ranger’s reputation in a very public manner rather than seeking any sort of private resolution.’
During their Twitter exchange, Ms Joshi described Lord Ranger as ‘a disgrace to the entire Hindu community’, said he ‘displays no regard for women’ and accused him of having ‘bought’ his peerage through donations to the Conservative Party.
Although he was unable to compel her to act, Mr Khan recommended that Ms Joshi also apologise, which she did, saying: ‘I am remorseful and accept that I bear a share of the responsibility for the circumstances which have arisen, and I apologise to Lord Ranger.’
In his apology, Lord Ranger said: ‘In this report, the commissioner has found my behaviour fell short of the high standards I expect of myself, and which others expect of me as a sitting member of the House of Lords. I have expressed my remorse and I apologise to Ms Joshi.
‘The investigation process and reading and reflecting on the report has had a profound and lasting effect on me. I will continue to self-reflect and learn from this experience.’
Lord Ranger had invited Ms Joshi to the Diwali event as part of an effort to mediate another dispute between the journalist and the Hindu Forum of Britain, which he had helped establish.
But, Mr Khan found, relations ‘began to sour’ after an angry exchange of words at the event in October 2022, leading to the Twitter dispute between the pair.
As well as apologising, Lord Ranger agreed to undertake a bespoke training and behaviour change coaching course.