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Lord Lester faces suspension over sexual harassment claims Lord Lester faces suspension over sexual harassment claims
(about 1 hour later)
The Lords Privileges Committee says Lord Lester of Herne Hill should be suspended for sexually harassing a complainant and offering her "corrupt inducements to sleep with him".The Lords Privileges Committee says Lord Lester of Herne Hill should be suspended for sexually harassing a complainant and offering her "corrupt inducements to sleep with him".
The committee recommended a suspension until 2022, which would be the longest in modern parliamentary history.The committee recommended a suspension until 2022, which would be the longest in modern parliamentary history.
The House of Lords will debate a motion to suspend Lord Lester, on Thursday.The House of Lords will debate a motion to suspend Lord Lester, on Thursday.
The 82-year old peer, whose appeal was rejected, sat in the Lords as a Lib Dem until the claims emerged in February. The 82-year-old peer, whose appeal was rejected, sat in the Lords as a Lib Dem until the claims emerged in February.
He denied the allegations, which are judged on the balance of probabilities.He denied the allegations, which are judged on the balance of probabilities.
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." But the Lords Standards Commissioner upheld the complaint "on the basis of the strong and cogent evidence of the complainant and her witnesses".
'Abuse of power'
In its report, the committee said a complaint had been received in November 2017 that Lord Lester "had sexually harassed the complainant, had offered her a corrupt inducement to have sexual relations with her, and had warned her of unspecified consequences if she did not accept his offer".
It added: "These allegations were connected to Lord Lester's conduct of his parliamentary duties."
The report also said Lord Lester had admitted telling another peer the name of the complainant and said she had been responsible for him being suspended by his party. This was a breach of confidentiality rules, it said.
A separate report by the Sub-Committee on Lords' Conduct, which looks at appropriate sanctions, recommended suspension, saying the "allegations taken together constituted a grave abuse of power".
A Liberal Democrat spokesperson said: "Anthony Lester has been suspended from the Liberal Democrats and is no longer a member of the Liberal Democrat group in the House of Lords."