Tory peer withdraws ‘racially charged’ comments
A Conservative peer has apologised and withdrawn comments that were criticised for being “racially charged”, as a second referral about his conduct was made to the House of Lords standards watchdog.
Rami Ranger, a major Conservative party donor, admitted that remarks unearthed by the Guardian that he made in a letter regarding Pakistani journalists and a later TV interview about grooming and drug dealing had “caused offence”.
He said they had been an “overreaction made in the heat of the moment” and added: “It is by no means a reflection of how I see the British Pakistani community.”
The Guardian understands Ranger has been reported to the Lords standards commissioners by the Labour chair, Anneliese Dodds, for an interview he gave to Indian television earlier this month.
Ranger was fiercely critical of the BBC’s two-part documentary about the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, which examined his role in the 2002 religious riots.
“We are a very hard-working community, we are not in prison as much as the Pakistani community, we do not do grooming of young girls, we do not do drug peddling,” Ranger told the broadcaster India Today.
He also made un-evidenced claims that there were “30-40 Labour MPs who depend on Pakistani votes” and that “Pakistani votes are the best because they are in ghettoes”.
When the Guardian initially contacted Ranger after it emerged he had written a letter to the BBC about its Modi documentary demanding to know if “Pakistani-origin staff were behind this nonsense”, he showed no remorse.
“Since you are judge and jury, please go ahead and write to damage me more,” he told the Guardian last Wednesday. He said British Pakistanis had made “inflammatory and unnecessary” criticisms of Modi, echoing criticisms of the BBC documentary that closely mirror those made by the Indian government, which has censored the film.
Nearly a week later, when the government whips office in the Lords was contacted to ask about his conduct and the TV interview, Ranger released a new statement saying: “I withdraw the comments completely.”
Dodds said Ranger’s comments on Indian television were “offensive and racist”, and wrote to the Lords commissioners urging them to investigate whether conduct rules had been broken.
The parliamentary behaviour code requires peers to treat those they come into contact with “with respect and courtesy”. Dodds said she suspected Ranger was “in breach of” the Lords’ code of conduct.
Chris Elmore, Labour’s vice-chair, said it was “shocking that any parliamentarian held such offensive views”, and said Rishi Sunak’s “promise of honesty, integrity and professionalism looks more hollow than ever”.
Ranger is already being investigated by the Lords authorities, after an independent journalist accused him of a campaign of bullying and harassment.
Poonam Joshi, a freelance reporter and women’s rights campaigner, has been investigating Ranger over his links to a controversial Indian guru, details of which were revealed by the Observer last month.
Ranger said he regretted attending an event at the House of Lords at which a representative of the guru was present. The invitations to the event were issued in Ranger’s name. But he responded to Joshi with a volley of abuse over Twitter and WhatsApp.
Ranger is suing Joshi for defamation, and has said previously of the investigation into his behaviour towards Joshi: “I will be giving my response to the commissioner for parliamentary standards in due course.”
