Top Tory donor hits back at ‘unjust ruling’

A top Tory donor and peer has hit back at what he said was an unjust ruling after being stripped of his CBE following a series of controversies, including making derogatory remarks about Pakistanis and harassing a journalist. Lord Rami Ranger, who has donated around £1.5m to the Conservative Party since 2009, was made a CBE in 2016 for services to business and community cohesion. But a notice published in the London Gazette on Friday said the King had directed Lord Ranger’s CBE to be “cancelled and annulled”.

The Tory peer hit back at the decision, saying he will explore “various legal avenues” to challenge the decision. A spokesperson for Lord Ranger said he 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 spokesperson added. The Forfeiture Committee, which decides on whether to strip someone of an honour, is understood to have taken the decision after considering social media posts made by Lord Ranger about the Sikh community, along with comments in the media about Pakistanis. It also considered the House of Lords Standards Commissioner’s finding in June 2023 that Lord Ranger had harassed and bullied the Indian journalist Poonam Joshi in a series of tweets, the PA news agency understands.

The Tory peer was ennobled in 2019 in Theresa May’s resignation honours list but lost the Conservative whip after he was censured by the standards commissioner, which found he had bullied and harassed the journalist. The Lords commissioner for standards ruled he had abused his power by “persistently undermining, humiliating and denigrating Ms Joshi”. Lord Ranger apologised to Ms Joshi for his conduct, which included calling her “toxic”, “a total nutcase”, and “the epitome of filth and garbage”. He also promised to undertake social media training and re-attend a seminar on the parliamentary behaviour code. The commissioner also found Ms Joshi had “publicly made potentially damaging allegations about Lord Ranger”, saying there had been “fault on both sides” in this case.

The Conservatives returned the whip to Lord Ranger in November this year. Despite his apology, it is understood the Forfeiture Committee considered the fact he was made a CBE for his work on community cohesion meant it was appropriate for him to forfeit his honour. Lord Ranger was one of six people to lose their honours on Friday, with others including the tech entrepreneur Lawrence Jones, who lost his MBE after being jailed for 15 years for a number of sexual offences last year. In the statement, the spokesperson 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.” The Forfeiture Committee can recommend someone loses an honour for a variety of reasons, including criminal convictions and bringing the honours system into disrepute. People to have forfeited their honours for bringing the system into disrepute previously include the rapper Wiley, who lost his MBE earlier this year after a series of antisemitic posts on social media, and former Post Office chief executive Paula Vennells, who returned her CBE over her involvement in the Horizon scandal. According to its website, the committee does not carry out investigations itself, but “reflects the findings of official investigations and makes a recommendation of whether or not the honours system has been brought into disrepute”.