Lord Rami Ranger: Conservative peer ordered to apologise for bullying journalist on Twitter

The House of Lords Standards Commissioner has ordered a Conservative peer and donor to apologise for bullying and harassing a journalist on social media.

Lord Ranger accepted his behaviour “fell short” when he publicly argued over a number of weeks with Poonam Joshi on Twitter. An inquiry found he undermined and humiliated the journalist by questioning her status and upbringing - and has been instructed to attend behavioural training.

Who is Lord Ranger?

Rami Ranger is the chairman of a food distribution business called Sun Mark. Electoral Commission records show the firm has donated well over £1 million to the Conservatives. Ranger also gave financial backing to Theresa May when she ran to succeed David Cameron as Prime Minister in 2016.

May gave Ranger a peerage in her resignation honours list three years later.

What happened?

In October last year, Lord Ranger invited Joshi (who works for the Indian TV network ABP News) to an event celebrating Diwali - the Hindu festival of lights. She’d previously raised concerns about a group he’d helped establish, the Hindu Forum of Britain.

The Standards Commissioner - Akbar Khan - found that during the event, the peer made disparaging comments to her such as “know your place” and “don’t try to be too big for your shoes”.

Over the following weeks, the dispute moved to Twitter. Lord Ranger described Joshi as “toxic”, “a total nutcase”, and “the epitome of filth and garbage”. She hit back - calling him a “disgrace to the entire Hindu community” and accusing him of having “bought” his peerage through donations to the Tories.

Joshi complained to the Commissioner, who investigated the row. His report was published on Tuesday (13 June).

What did the report say?

Khan found Lord Ranger had bullied and harassed Joshi by “persistently undermining, humiliating and denigrating” the journalist. But he also concluded Joshi bore some responsibility for continuing the dispute on social media.

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 can appreciate why Ms Joshi was upset (but) 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”.

How has Lord Ranger responded?

In a statement, 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”.

What about Poonam Joshi?

Joshi said: “I am grateful to Lord Ranger for his apology. The Commissioner’s Report has given me the opportunity to reflect on my own actions, which have not met the standards I have set for myself”.

“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”.