Peer bullied staff member on way to behaviour training

A PEER bullied a member of staff while on the way to behaviour-change training that was mandated in the wake of harassment claims against him, a watchdog has concluded.

Lord Lea of Crondall, who previously served as assistant general secretary of the Trades Union Congress, was found to have breached the House of Lords code of conduct in the latest report from Lucy Scott-moncrieff, the commissioner for standards.

The complainant, known as QR, said they felt “belittled and undermined” by the incident in January. Lord Lea has written to QR to “apologise fully and unreservedly” for his conduct, explaining he was “under some stress”.

Lord Lea is a non-affiliated peer having been suspended by Labour in January following an investigation by the standards watchdog regarding behaviour towards two women. One woman described him as being “slightly stalkerish”, while another said he offered to write a “sexually suggestive” poem. This led to Lord Lea being referred for “behaviour-change coaching”, which is the reason he was due to meet a guest in Parliament, Dr K.

The report said Dr K had not been allowed to enter Parliament as he did not have a booking. QR reported this to Lord Lea, who “became very angry [and] raised his voice”. The report said: “QR explained the reasons for not allowing Dr K to enter but ‘Lord Lea said that he did not believe me and that he would be taking the matter further’.”

Lord Lea said he was “keen to apologise” in person to QR for “seriously upsetting” them on the day in question.

The report stated: “This behaviour met the criteria for bullying, and was a breach of the code of conduct.”

In his letter to QR, Lord Lea wrote: “I have from that very afternoon been undergoing counselling and bespoke coaching on how to change my behaviour and hopefully learnt how to be far more measured and empathetic in my conduct in future.”