Labour peer Swraj Paul has said that the House of Lords panel that recommended his suspension over excessive expenses claims acted like a “kangaroo court” and did not give him a fair hearing. “It would seem that it had already decided in advance what their verdict would be,” he told The Hindu .
Lord Paul said that during the hour-long hearing “nobody asked why I thought my claims were valid” and there were occasions when “I would have walked out but for my respect for parliamentary procedure.” There were constant “media leaks” at every stage, he added, pointing out that it was from press reports that he first got to know of the panel's recommendations.
He found two members of the panel, the Subcommittee for Lords' Conduct, including its chairperson Eliza Manningham-Buller “openly hostile.” Baroness Buller even “threatened” to resign if her recommendations were not accepted by the Privileges Committee to which Lord Paul had appealed.
The Privileges Committee, while upholding the decision to suspend him, rejected the Buller panel's finding that he “did not act in good faith” in claiming extra expenses. It said he had “not acted dishonestly or in bad faith” but had been “negligent and irresponsible”.
The allegation
Lord Paul accused the pro-Tory media, especially the Murdoch papers, of “hounding” him for political reasons. “They wanted to attack Labour party,” he observed, “and I was an easy target because of my proximity to Gordon Brown, the then Prime Minister.”
Lord Paul and two other Asian peers — Baroness Manzila Pola Uddin and Lord Amir Bhatia — were suspended last month for “wrongly claiming overnight parliamentary expenses meant for out-of-London members.” The allegation against Lord Paul was that he designated a one-room flat in Oxfordshire as his “main residence” in order to claim the overnight allowance even though he barely stayed there, and that he spent much of his time at his London home.
Lord Paul was suspended for four months, Baroness Uddin until Easter 2012, and Lord Bhatia for eight months. Lord Paul has since voluntarily resigned as Deputy Speaker of the House.
The ‘element of race'
Their suspension has sparked a controversy amid allegations of political and media bias, and even a hint of racial prejudice. A group of the House of Lords staff has alleged “institutional racism.” In a letter, seen by The Hindu , they said they overheard conversation between two officials referring to the three peers in racially “derogatory tones” and suggesting that they had “succeeded in getting them suspended.” The letter added: “We as a group were horrified as this seemed to almost be institutional racism ... One gets the impression that the Lords Finance Office has undertones of institutional racism. We are now ashamed to say that we work for the House of Lords.”
The “element of race” was also highlighted by Labour peer Lord Waheed Alli during a debate in the House. He made a pointed reference to the fact that all three peers who had been suspended were Asian.
Lord Paul, however, declined to be drawn out on this question. “I hope not,” he responded. “It would be disgrace if that has happened.” He characterised the official response to Lord Walli's comment as “pathetic.” He was clear that he had been a victim of “gross injustice.” He pointed out that while the expense claims of about other 20 peers were scrutinised they were not investigated and let off after being simply asked to give “written assurances.”
“My case alone,” he explained, “was referred to the Metropolitan Police after a campaign by the press and a Scottish MP who was opposed to Prime Minister Gordon Brown. One has to assume it was politically motivated. However, the police very quickly said there was no case against me because the rules that I and my fellow members had followed when submitting expenses claims were too vague to be enforceable.”
Contribution to Britain
Lord Paul said the matter should have ended there. Instead, his case was referred to the Buller panel even though by then he had repaid £41,000 that he was said to have wrongly claimed between January 2005 and July 2006 — the only time, he said, he ever claimed any expenses during his 14 years as peer. “In fact I had repaid £14,000 more than I needed to have done. Since I had already repaid the money and the police had decided ‘there was no case against him,' why did the House of Lords think it needed further investigation?” Lord Paul questioned the interpretation of the term “main residence” saying that it was so “vague” that many members designated “all kinds of properties outside London in order to be eligible for the overnight allowance.” The fact that rules had since been changed showed that the previous regime was flawed, he added.
Lord Paul spoke emotionally about his contribution to Britain. “I have contributed more to Britain than I have taken. The biggest thing I have achieved is to make Britons realise that Indians, whether in business, politics, or the professions, belong to the Premier League rather than manual workers that they were once perceived as.”
He said his faith in the British sense of justice had been shaken but he would continue to fight.
“The battle is not over. I am not a quitter,” he declared.
