Lord Maginnis faces suspension for bullying and homophobic slurs towards MPs
Lord Maginnis should be suspended from the House of Lords for at least 18 months for bullying and harassment of three MPs and a security guard, the peers’ standards watchdog has recommended.
The recommendation from the Lords Conduct Committee follows an investigation into the Northern Irish peer’s treatment of a parliamentary security officer and MPs Hannah Bardell, Luke Pollard and Toby Perkins.
He was investigated after being “verbally abusive” to security officer Christian Bombolo when asked to show his parliamentary pass in January.
Bardell witnessed the incident with Bombolo.
She complained that when she attempted to intervene she was treated “rudely and aggressively” by Maginnis, who later used “homophobic and derogatory language about her” in comments to the media.
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Maginnis was also investigated for using homophobic language in relation to Pollard in February 2020 after the Labour MP’s chairing of a meeting.
The Lords Conduct Committee suggested Maginnis’ suspension could be extended if he does not undergo training and change his ways.
In the committee’s report, it said: “In his oral appeal Lord Maginnis showed very little insight into the impact of his behaviour on the complainants, and no remorse for the upset he had caused.
“To the contrary, he portrayed himself as a victim of a conspiracy by people who disapproved of his views and insisted that all his conduct had been provoked.
“He also continued to refer to the complainants in a disobliging and sometimes offensive manner.”
Peers will have to approve the report before the suspension comes into force.
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Another Proddy ‘victim’?!? Is he just another ‘loyalist’ lout who received royal approval for his’fair and forthright’ defence of the inequalitiesd that flourished under English imperialism in the nine counties. Or, a confirmation of the exact nature of the system authority in Merrie Olde Englande in the 21st century? We certainly do not need or want anyone that seems completely incapable of experiencing sufficient empathy to comprehend/understand his part in the ochestration of the events described. Mind you I have never heard or read anything from the orange order about their contribution to the repression of Northern Irish catholics. So no surprise there.
Why not remove his Peerage?