Fury at probe into peer, 91, who missed online course

MPS have criticised the decision to launch an investigation into Betty Boothroyd for failing to attend a course on sexual harassment even though she was recovering from open-heart surgery.

The former Commons speaker is one of 60 peers being investigated by the Lords standards commissioner for missing a training session called Valuing Everyone.

Others investigated include former deputy prime minister Michael Heseltine and former unionist leader and Nobel Prize winner David Trimble.

MPs described the investigation into 91-year-old Baroness Boothroyd, pictured, as ‘political correctness gone mad’ and accused officials of harassing the Dewsbury-born peer, who made history as the first and only female Commons speaker.

The online training, which is voluntary for MPs, was made compulsory in the Lords last year. One MP who has attended the course said: ‘It’s bonkers. Betty Boothroyd is someone to whom statues will be built in the future. This would be like prosecuting the suffragettes for failing to vote.’

After she was first contacted by the standards watchdog, Baroness Boothroyd responded: ‘I have had aorta valve replacement followed by leak in mitral valve. The respiratory consultant in particular insisted I stay out of London and in isolation in the country.’

She added: ‘I remain in shielding which is a requirement. I neither indulge in Zoom nor remote [meetings].’

Despite this, commissioner Lucy Scott-Moncrieff announced she was investigating the baroness anyway.

Tory MP Neil O’Brien said the move was ‘beyond laughable’.

Baroness Boothroyd’s possible penalties include being banned from the Lords or from claiming its daily allowance.

The course is run by Challenge Consultancy, which has received more than £750,000 in contracts from Parliament for running two online courses.