Conservative peer Lord Rami Ranger has forfeited his CBE – just a month after regaining the Tory whip.
The move was confirmed in a notice published in the London Gazette saying the King had directed Lord Ranger’s CBE would be “cancelled and annulled”.
According to the PA news agency, the decision was made after the Forfeiture Committee looked at social media posts made by Lord Ranger about the Sikh community, along with comments in the media about Pakistanis.
In response, the Tory peer said he would explore “various legal avenues” to challenge the “unjust” decision.
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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 committee also considered the House of Lords Commissioner’s report from last year which found Lord Ranger had bullied and harassed an Indian journalist on social media.
Lord Ranger has donated around £1.5m to the Conservative Party since 2009 and was made a CBE in 2016 for services to business and community cohesion.
He was ennobled in 2019 in Theresa May’s resignation honours list but lost the Conservative 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.
The Conservatives returned the whip to him last month.
Lord Ranger is understood to have apologised to the journalist for his conduct, which included calling them “toxic”, “a total nutcase”, and “the epitome of filth and garbage”.
According to PA, the Forfeiture Committee decided it would still be appropriate for Lord Ranger to forfeit his honour despite the apology he issued.
The decision makes him one of six people to lose their honours on Friday.
Others include tech entrepreneur Lawrence Jones, who lost his MBE after being jailed for 15 years for a number of sexual offences last year.
The Forfeiture Committee can recommend someone loses an honour for reasons including criminal convictions and bringing the honours system into disrepute.
Previous examples of people who have forfeited their honours in the past for bringing the system into disrepute include rapper Wiley, who lost his MBE earlier this year after making 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.
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Lord Ranger’s spokesperson 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.”