Britain's House of Lords on Thursday endorsed the recommendation of its Privileges Committee and suspended for varying periods three members of Asian-origin after concerns had been voiced about a possible racial bias in the decision. The House unanimously approved sanctions against Lord Swraj Paul,who remains suspended for four months,Baroness Manzila Pola Uddin,who remains suspended for 18 months,and Amirali Alibhai Bhatia,who remains suspended for 8 months,for claiming thousands of pounds in parliamentary expenses which the Committee believed they were not entitled to. During the debate in the House on the resolution,prominent Labor peer Lord Waheed Alli raised concerns about a possible racial bias. "It cannot have escaped your attention that the only three members of the House who were referred to the Committee for Privileges and Conduct and subsequently investigated under these procedures were all Asian," Alli said. Lord Paul was suspended despite the Privileges Committee finding that he had not acted "dishonestly or in bad faith". The House accepted the recommendation of the Committee,which observed that "We do not feel justified in finding,on the balance of probabilities,that Lord Paul acted dishonestly or in bad faith. However,his actions were utterly unreasonable and demonstrated gross irresponsibility and negligence." Lord Alli told the House that only the cases of three members of the Lords were referred to the Privileges and Conduct Committee although there were some 20 members against whom expenses complaints have been made. He suggested that if there had been inconsistency on the basis of "race or otherwise," the House should be allowed to review their sanctions to ensure equal treatment. However,another member Baroness Flather said that she did not have any sympathy for Lord Bhatia and Lord Paul who were both rich. She supported their suspension. Chairman of the conduct committee,Lord Ivon Anthony Moore-Brabazon rejected suggestions of racial bias and said that the action against the three peers was not "in the least bit" because they were Asians.
