Tory peer stripped of CBE after derogatory social media comments about Sikhs and Pakistanis

A Conservative peer has been stripped of his CBE after making derogatory comments about Sikhs and Pakistanis on social media and bullying an Indian journalist.

Lord Ranger’s award would be “cancelled and annulled” by the King, a notice published in the London Gazette said on Friday.

The 77-year-old, who has donated about £1.5 million to the Conservative Party since 2009, was handed the award in 2016 for services to business and community cohesion.

The King acted on the advice of the forfeiture committee, which also considered the House of Lords standards commissioner’s findings in June 2023 that Lord Ranger had harassed and bullied Poonam Joshi, an Indian journalist, in a series of tweets.

His campaign against Ms Joshi was first exposed by The Telegraph when a House of Lords investigation found that he had breached the Code of Conduct in his behaviour towards her.

Ms Joshi told the inquiry that following an event at the House of Lords in 2023 he described her several times on social media as a “presstitute” – a slur used in India against journalists who criticise the ruling BJP government – and falsely claimed on Twitter that she had reported her husband, a BBC presenter, for domestic abuse.

Lord Ranger, who runs the consumer goods firm Sun Mark International, apologised to Ms Joshi for his conduct, which also included calling her “toxic”, “a total nutcase”, and “the epitome of filth and garbage”.

The standards commissioner ruled that he had abused his power by “persistently undermining, humiliating and denigrating Ms Joshi”.

The commissioner decided not to suspend the businessman from parliament after he promised to undertake social media training and re-attend a seminar on the parliamentary behaviour code.

A source close to Ms Joshi told The Telegraph: “She feels incredibly vindicated after what has been a very difficult 24 months for her. She went up against an incredibly powerful individual and the legal machine that supported him and stood her ground, despite the threat of losing everything she owned: her livelihood, her home where she had raised her children, everything.”

During the investigation Lord Ranger wrote to the BBC in protest against a documentary that was critical of Narendra Modi, the Indian prime minister.

‘Nonsense’

In his letter, he demanded to know “if your Pakistani-origin staff were behind this nonsense”.

He later withdrew the comments and apologised, saying they were “by no means a reflection of how I see the British Pakistani community”.

Lord Ranger was made a peer in Theresa May’s 2019 resignation honours, but lost the Conservative whip after he was censured by the standards commissioner.

The decision to strip Lord Ranger of his CBE comes after the Tory Party returned the whip to him last month.

The party had removed the whip from Lord Ranger in September 2023 but they failed to tell the Lords authorities that they had done so until a year later.

Lord Ranger was born in the Pakistan city of Gujranwala, but his Hindu family moved to the Indian Punjab during the partition of 1947. He arrived in the UK as a law student in 1971.

He lost his CBE along with five others, according to the announcement in the London Gazette.

These include Lam Shiu-kum, the former dean of medicine at Hong Kong University, who was jailed for misconduct in public office, and Lawrence Jones, the British tech tycoon who was found guilty of rape and sexual assault last year.

‘Devastated’

A spokesman for Lord Ranger said: “Lord Ranger has not committed any crime nor has he broken any law, where the majority of the people who have had their honour revoked in this way have committed a crime or broken the law.

“Lord Ranger is devastated that the CBE awarded to him for his services to British business and for promoting community cohesion has been taken away.

“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.”

The spokesman went on to say Lord Ranger had apologised and undertaken rehabilitative work regarding complaints that had been made against him, adding that the decision would “encourage individuals to make spurious complaints about others”.

They added: “Despite the actions of the committee, Lord Ranger will continue to make the significant contribution that he has over the last 30 years and that led to him originally receiving his honours.

“He is looking at all options for redress via various legal avenues open to him and will challenge this unjust decision in order to vindicate himself and clear his name in the UK and abroad. Lord Ranger was a worthy recipient of his CBE.

“The manner in which it has been taken from him is shameful.”

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