Lord Pendry should be suspended from the House of Lords for a week for bullying a member of security staff, the Lords Conduct Committee has recommended.
It follows an appeal by the Labour peer, 87, against the original ruling of the Lords Standards Commissioner.
The complainant, who works in the Parliamentary Security Department, said that Mr Pendry’s behaviour had left them feeling “physically shaken and unnerved” as well as “shocked and upset”.
A member of staff in the Parliamentary Security Department alleged, on July 6 last year, they found one of Lord Pendry’s guests, who was not a passholder, walking unescorted near the House of Lords Chamber.
They said they escorted the guest to the toilet and then back to the Peers’ Guest Room where Lord Pendry was waiting. Later, they claimed that Lord Pendry, 87, grabbed their radio to try to see their name badge and demanded to know their name because he was upset with the way his guest had been treated.
The guard said the incident left them “physically shaken and unnerved” as well as “shocked and upset”. They said they continue “to feel very anxious and stressed regarding this incident”.
Lord Pendry, who once served as a minister in James Callaghan’s government, denied bullying the guard and said he was standing up for his guest.
“I have always upheld the highest standards and endeavoured to stand up to those mistreating others,” he said. “This is precisely what motivated my challenge of [the guard] on July 6, 2021”
He added: “It is unconscionable to think that I—a Parliamentarian of 50 years’ service—would suddenly bully a member of a team who I owe my safety and gratitude to on a daily basis.”
