Pakistani-origin UK peer accused of exploiting women

A Pakistani-origin member of the House of Lords has embroiled in accusations that he used his position to exploit vulnerable women who came to him seeking help.

Lord Nazir Ahmed, who is at the forefront of anti-India campaigns including backing pro-Khalistan groups in the UK, is alleged to have conducted a sexual relationship with a woman after she asked him for help, according to a BBC report.

Another unnamed woman who had sought Ahmed's assistance also claims he suggested she should spend the night at his London home, it said.

"Lord Ahmed used my trust to repeatedly have intercourse with me," Tahira Zaman told Lords' Commissioner for Standards, Lucy Scott-Moncrieff, in a complaint.

"I feel I have been preyed upon due to my vulnerability and used by Lord Ahmed," the 43-year-old said.

Zaman says she approached Ahmed in February 2017 through a mutual friend, hoping he would help get the police to investigate a Muslim faith healer who she felt was a danger to women.

He agreed to help but she then alleges that he repeatedly asked her for dinner and eventually invited her to his east London home.

While she accepts their relationship was consensual, Zaman stresses that she was looking for help and he took advantage of her.

"He abused his power," she said.

After reviewing Zaman's complaint, the House of Lords commissioner said she was unable to investigate. Scott-Moncrieff concluded it didn't fall within parliamentary code as Ahmed's offer to help her was not part of his parliamentary work.

"The behaviour you describe in your email could amount to a breach of personal honour. However, the code only applies in relation to a peer's parliamentary work, and, from your email, it looks as if your initial contact with him was not to do with his parliamentary work," she wrote to Zaman.

A second woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, told BBC that she had also asked Ahmed for help and claims he suggested she should spend the night at his London home, which she interpreted this as a proposition for sex and refused.

Lord Carlile, a fellow peer and former Deputy High Court Judge, called on the House of Lords conduct rules to be clarified because, in his view, what Ahmed had done breached the code covering conflicts of interest and another which stipulates that Lords must behave on "their personal honour".

"She went to Lord Ahmed because she believed he was in a position to do something influential for her. So, it's absolutely clear to me that what he was doing was in his role as a member of the House of Lords," he said.

Ahmed has denied any wrongdoing or acting "inappropriately" towards women.

"I take my duties as a Parliamentarian extremely seriously and would not act so as to undermine my personal or professional reputation," he said in a statement.