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UK lawmaker faces lengthy ban over sexual harassment

This file photo shows a view to the British House of Lords.

A member of Britain’s upper house of parliament, the House of Lords, could be banned for three years for sexually harassing a woman.

The House’s conduct committee ruled on Monday that Anthony Lester should be slapped with the hefty ban after it was revealed that he allegedly tried to force a woman to sleep with him.

Lester is convicted of “sexually harassing the complainant and offering her corrupt inducements to sleep with him,” said the committee, adding that the lawmaker should be suspended until 2022 because he committed the behavior “in the context of his parliamentary duties.”

The House of Lords will vote on the ruling to ban Lester, an 82-year-old Liberal Democrat and a human rights lawyer, on Thursday.

Anthony Lester, a member of Britain's House of Lords for centrist Liberal Democrats

“If the suspension is agreed by the House of Lords it will be the longest suspension of a member of either the House of Lords or the House of Commons since at least the end of World War II,” read a statement by the conduct committee.

Tabloid newspaper The Sun first reported on the issue, saying that Lester had offered help to an activist in the party if she slept with him. Other reports have suggested that the incident occurred several years ago.

Even though he contested the allegations, Lester resigned as party whip -- the main coordinator of party moves -- in February after a probe was opened in the parliament.  

The development is the latest to come from a spate of sexual harassment allegations affecting lawmakers and staff in both the House of Lords and the House of Commons.

A report in October showed that the lower house of the British parliament had been awash with a culture of bullying and inappropriate sexual behavior among members of the chamber.


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