Labour peer is accused of using his position to get women into bed
‘Victim’ embarked on affair after going to Lord Ahmed for assistance when she felt vulnerable
A LABOUR peer has been accused of exploiting his position to pursue sex with women who came to him for help.
Lord Nazir Ahmed of Rotherham is alleged to have conducted a sexual relationship with a vulnerable woman who approached him for assistance.
Tahira Zaman, 43, complained about Lord Ahmed’s behaviour to the Lords Commissioner for Standards, Lucy Scott-moncrieff.
But Ms Scott-moncrieff concluded the Lords’ Code of Conduct could not have been broken because when the peer offered to help it was not part of his parliamentary work.
In a second case, a woman who wishes to remain anonymous said she had also asked the peer for help and claims he suggested she should spend the night at his London home. She interpreted this as a proposition for sex, which she refused.
Lord Ahmed denies all the allegations against him.
Ms Zaman said she felt exploited by Lord Ahmed because she was suffering from anxiety and depression.
She approached him in February 2017 through a mutual friend because she wanted an investigation into a Muslim faith healer who she felt was a danger to women.
Ms Zaman told BBC Two’s Newsnight that Lord Ahmed said he wrote a letter to the Metropolitan Police about her concerns, but went on to have sex with her on numerous occasions.
She accepts that the alleged relationship was consensual, but said: “I was looking for help and he took advantage of me. He abused his power.”
She said the affair ended after two months when Lord Ahmed, 61, told her he would not leave his wife.
Ms Zaman said: “I genuinely did believe that he had feelings for me, I’m just so stupid … and I believed that he was going to help me.”
In January last year, she complained to Ms Scott-moncrieff and said she had been “preyed upon due to my vulnerability and used”. The Commissioner reviewed the complaint twice but said her hands were tied.
In a reply she wrote: “The behaviour you describe in your email could amount to a breach of personal honour. However, the Code only applies in relation to a peer’s parliamentary work.”
Lord Carlile QC, said a sexual relationship between Lord Ahmed and Ms Zaman could breach the code and that rules needed to be “clarified”.
He said: “If someone comes to you for help, particularly if they’re vulnerable … and you form a sexual relationship – actually, that’s disgraceful.”
Ms Scott-moncrieff said in a statement: “Though credible and substantial, the complaint provided insufficient evidence that contact with the member was in relation to his parliamentary duties. I was therefore unable to launch an investigation. To conclude otherwise, as Lord Carlile has done, is to mis- understand the Code.”
Lord Ahmed said in a statement: “I completely deny the allegation that I have exploited my position to pursue an inappropriate relationship with any member of the public or that I have acted inappropriately in the presence of women either in my personal or professional capacity.”
‘I genuinely did believe that he had feelings for me... I’m just so stupid’