Lord Kakkar (CB)

My Lords, Lord Stone of Blackheath, the subject of this report, resigned from your Lordships’ House in December last year. Soon after, the commissioner launched an investigation into three complaints, two made by visitors and a third by a member of staff in the Parliamentary Digital Service. The commissioner upheld all three complaints, finding that, in each case, Lord Stone’s behaviour constituted harassment. The commissioner also found that Lord Stone’s actions towards two of the complainants, who were visiting the estate as his guests, constituted sexual misconduct. This is the fourth report in which Lord Stone has been found to have engaged in bullying, harassment or sexual misconduct towards staff or visitors. Following the third report on his conduct, agreed by your Lordships’ House in December 2024, he was suspended from the House for six months. In this latest report, the commissioner, in considering an appropriate sanction, took account not only of the gravity of the latest breaches but the fact that Lord Stone is a repeat offender who has been unable or unwilling to take steps to improve his conduct. Had Lord Stone not already resigned from the House, the commissioner would have recommended his expulsion, but, given that expulsion was unavailable, the commissioner instead recommended that Lord Stone be permanently excluded from the House of Lords estate. The Conduct Committee agreed with the commissioner that Lord Stone’s presence on the estate, either as a passholder or as a guest, would present a clear and intolerable risk to other members of the parliamentary community. I therefore invite your Lordships to endorse our conclusion that Lord Stone be permanently excluded from the House of Lords estate. Finally, if this report is agreed, I shall write to the Speaker of the House of Commons to invite him to impose similar restrictions on Lord Stone’s access to the House of Commons estate. I beg to move.