A FORMER Liberal Democrat peer regarded as an architect of British equality law is facing a record suspension from the House of Lords for sexual harassment.
The Lords Privileges Committee found Lord Lester of Herne Hill had offered a woman “corrupt inducements to sleep with him” and should be suspended until June 2022.
The punishment, if passed by peers on Thursday, would be the longest in modern times.
The 82-year-old peer and QC, who helped draft race relations laws in the 1960s and 1970s, was ennobled as a LibDem peer in 1993.
However he stood down as the party’s human rights spokesman in February after allegations of sexual harassment were made against him, and agreed to lose the party whip.
The Lords Commissioner for Standards Lucy Scott-Moncrieff investigated after the unnamed woman complained the peer had breached Lord's Code of Conduct.
In its subsequent report, the Privileges Committee agreed with the Commissioner’s conclusion that Lord Lester failed “to act on his personal honour by sexually harassing the complainant and offering her corrupt inducements to sleep with him."
In her report to the committee, Ms Scott-Moncrieff rejected Lord Lester's challenge to the finding, saying the complainant and her witnesses presented "strong and cogent evidence".
A subsequent report by the sub-committee on Lords' conduct found his actions constituted a "grave abuse of power" and recommended he should be expelled altogether.
However the main Privileges and Conduct Committee accepted that, when the behaviour took place, there was no power of expulsion and substituted a term of suspension.
In recommending a suspension until 3 June, 2022 - beyond the next scheduled general election, the committee said it had taken into account the length of previous suspensions as well as the seriousness of the case.
“Lord Lester made a dishonourable promise backed by a dishonourable threat,” it said.
Lord Lester has denied the charges, which were assessed on a balance of probabilities.
In a statement, the Privileges Committee added: “In a statement, the committee said: "The commissioner investigated Lord Lester, following a complaint from a member of the public, and found that Lord Lester had breached the Code of Conduct's requirement for members to act on their personal honour - by sexually harassing the complainant and offering her inducements to sleep with him - and that this behaviour took place in the context of his parliamentary duties."
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