"Lord Ranger is devastated"
Conservative peer and donor Lord Rami Ranger has been stripped of his CBE.
The Forfeiture Committee, which recommends whether to remove someone’s honour, decided he had brought the honours system into disrepute after a report by the Lords standards watchdog found he bullied and harassed a journalist on social media.
It also considered social media posts made by Lord Ranger about the Sikh community, as well as comments in the media about Pakistanis.
In response, Lord Ranger said he was “devastated” to be stripped of the CBE and would explore “various legal avenues” to challenge the “unjust” decision.
A notice published in the London Gazette said King Charles III had directed that Lord Ranger’s honour should be “cancelled and annulled”.
Lord Rami Ranger was made a CBE in 2016 for services to business and community cohesion.
He was made a peer in Theresa May’s resignation honours in 2019.
A spokesperson 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 CBE forfeiture comes just a month after Lord Ranger regained the Tory whip.
He lost the whip after he was censured by the standards commissioner.
Losing the whip means the member is effectively expelled from their party but keeps their seat. They must sit as an independent until the whip is restored.
Since 2009, the businessman has donated around £1.5 million to the Conservative Party.
In 2023, Lord Ranger apologised to Poonam Joshi, an Indian journalist based in the UK, after the Lords standards commissioner found he had abused his power by “persistently undermining, humiliating and denigrating” her in a series of posts on X.
Honours can be removed on the advice of the Forfeiture Committee and with the approval of the King.
Reasons can include being found guilty of a criminal offence, behaviour which results in censure by a regulatory or a professional body, or any other behaviour that is deemed to bring the honours system into disrepute.
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