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The British House of Lords voted to suspend Lord (Ken) Maginnis for at least 18 months on charges of harassment, harassment and homophobia.
The motion to stay was approved by an overwhelming majority on Monday after the House conduct committee last week found former Ulster Unionist Party MP for Fermanagh South Tyrone guilty of intimidating three MPs and a security guard. .
It had recommended its suspension for at least 18 months and this motion passed by 408 votes to 24.
The committee also suggested that the 18-month suspension could be extended if he did not undergo behavioral training and did not improve his behavior. Lord Maginnis of Drumglass had denied the allegations and described the committee’s findings as “ridiculous.”
Among those who voted against the motion were Lord Maginnis himself, former UUP MP Lord Kilclooney (John Tayor) and fellow DUP Lord (William) McCrea and Lord (Maurice) Morrow.
Lord Maginnis was investigated for allegedly “verbally abusing” a Westminster security officer, Christian Bombolo, and three MPs: Hannah Bardell, Luke Pollard and Toby Perkins.
Lord Maginnis had protested that in January he was unnecessarily told to take a tortuous route to the House of Lords after having difficulty locating his security pass. He had trouble walking due to illness, he said.
Scottish National Party MP Ms Bardell said Lord Maginnis became rude and aggressive when intervening during the exchange with Bombolo. He said it was “one of the worst cases of abuse of security personnel” that he had witnessed.
The Huffington Post website quoted Lord Maginnis at the time as saying, “Fags like Ms. Bardell don’t particularly bother me.”
‘Victim of abuse’
Lord Maginnis was also investigated for using homophobic language about Labor MP Pollard. In February, he was annoyed that Pollard was chairing a parliamentary group of all the British armed forces, prompting him to send a complaint email with the title “Discrimination by homosexuals”.
Pollard said the email made him feel like a “victim of abuse.”
Lord Maginnis also said that he had been the victim of a campaign against him by the LGBT rights group Stonewall. That organization, in turn, said that the comrade must “step up and accept responsibility for his behavior and apologize to those he has hurt.”
Lord Maginnis told BBC Radio Ulster last week that he had “held positions of responsibility all my life. At 83 years old, they are not going to dictate to me this way. ”
Lord Maginnis had been a fellow UUP fellow, but resigned his membership in 2012 after leadership criticized him for referring to gay marriage as “deviant and unnatural behavior” and for linking homosexuality to bestiality.
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