Chapter 7: Complaint by GH: account of the key facts and evidence
94.On 6 November 2019 GH wrote to me to make a complaint:
“Below is a written complaint against Lord Andrew Stone of Blackheath, whom which I believe acted in an inappropriate manner with me in July [redacted] of 2018. After reading through the Code of Conduct forms I believe that these actions violated this code, as “behaviour that amounts to bullying, harassment or sexual misconduct constitutes a breach of the Code.” I will write as much as I can down and hope this is useful in preventing cases such as this one in the future.
In April of 2018 I met Lord Stone at a mutual friend’s dinner in [city where GH lives] and after some conversation my Mum and myself were invited by Lord Stone for tea at the House of Lords if we found ourselves in London. As a 20 year old working in [GH’s professional background] at the time, I was quite intrigued by learning more about British politics and knew that I’d be in the UK that following July, and wanted to visit. After coordinating through email when the visit would take place, my Mum wasn’t able to fly with me and so on the day, just for extra precaution, I asked to bring my cousin with me instead. At the time of coordinating this visit, Lord Stone also asked that he have supper with me during his visit in [city where GH lives]. This did not happen. Lord Stone also signed off a few emails with kisses.
On the day that we visited the House of Lords, [date in July] 2018, Lord Stone met my cousin and I right where we had our security check, and when greeting me hello, gave me two kisses on either cheek that was in very close proximity to my mouth. I was very uncomfortable from this but I didn’t want to overthink it as we were just beginning our tour. Lord Stone did not greet my cousin this way. My cousin and I discussed this afterwards and were both uncomfortable by this gesture. Throughout the tour, especially looking back on it now, I was touched too much for my own comfort. I was confused by the generosity of taking the time to give us a free tour alongside the arm stroking or waist touching or comments on my appearance, such as being something along the lines of “young and beautiful”. When we finished the tour, we sat at tables by a balcony and the over familiar touching of my arms continued. At this time I definitely felt uncomfortable and confused and I was worried that I had allowed myself into a naïve situation. I’m very glad that I brought my cousin and she also voiced her concerns to me after we had left. I do not believe that these actions are appropriate from a 70+ year old man towards a 20 year old girl.
[The complainant told us about two further examples of Lord Stone’s behaviour that worried her and which contributed to the impact described below, but which were not covered by the Code of Conduct and which I was not able to investigate (see paragraph 96 below).]
I was incredibly disturbed by what had happened and found it hard not to think what “could have” happened if I had been alone, and this still troubles me today, over a year later. I searched for many sexual harassment support outlets following this incident. I was always anxious that this was happening to other people but I was afraid to share my story in case it wasn’t valid enough. I constantly searched to see if anyone else had complained about Lord Stone, and even a year later, I was still searching when I came across the recent report detailing the other sexual harassment claims against him. After reading the other stories I felt validated enough to come forward.
I know that if I was so easily invited into the House of Lords and placed in uncomfortable situation, that there may be a chance that other people share a similar story to mine and that in sharing this I can also help other people find the confidence just as I did when reading the report.”
95.In accordance with the requirements of the Code, I carried out a preliminary assessment and concluded that there was sufficient evidence to establish there was a prima facie case to be investigated.
96.As noted above, GH’s complaint also included details of other interactions with Lord Stone. However, as these had not occurred in the course of Lord Stone’s parliamentary duties or activities they fell outside the remit of the Code. As part of my investigation, I put these complaints to Lord Stone who acknowledged the events as reported and expressed remorse for the impact on the complainant, although he was clear that his intentions had not been untoward.
97.I wrote to Lord Stone on 27 November, enclosing a copy of GH’s complaint, informing him of the outcome of my preliminary assessment, and requesting his written response to the complaint.
98.On 14 January, following some correspondence between us, Lord Stone emailed my office with his considered written response to both complaints. The parts relating to GH were as follows:
“Thank you for your email. I am sorry that I was not sufficiently clear about my acceptance of the complaints, please let me say now unambiguously that I do accept the complaints and I apologise unreservedly for the effects of my behaviour. I have addressed each in turn below.
[…]
Whilst, as I have stated above, I do accept that my behaviour has been inappropriate, what I tried to emphasise in my previous email, albeit clumsily, was that my intentions were always entirely honourable. I did not approach the people whom I upset with any desire to embarrass them. In my previous email I was trying to express this and to underline that, in the case of [GH], my motivation was simply to help someone who had expressed an interest in international politics.
I now realise that many of my actions and interactions with staff and people who do not know me well may be construed as invading of peoples’ ‘personal space’. I accept that it is my responsibility in future to ensure that I am not inappropriately tactile.
I understand how some references and comments that I have made have been misconstrued as derogatory or inappropriate when they were tactless and clumsy (as in the case of [CD]) and the result of my difficulty in expressing myself. I will try to be mindful of this in future and will not assume that other people understand that references that I make. I will also not try to be humorous, as I can see that I can sometimes be tactless and often this can be misinterpreted. I have already begun to change this behaviour.
[…]
I would now like to address the particular nature of the two complaints.
[…]
Complaint by [GH]
I am upset by the inference that my behaviour toward [GH] was anything other than to try and assist a friend of a friend who wanted to be helped to enter the world of international politics. I originally met [GH] in [city where GH lives] where I was asked by a friend and colleague to attend a dinner at his house to meet some young men and women who were starting their careers and could benefit from my help and advice. My friend and his wife do this often and as he knows that I myself had a difficult start to life and was greatly helped by kind mentors.
I arranged to meet [GH] at the House with her mother. In the event her mother was unable to accompany her so she brought her cousin. When I greeted her I kissed her as is customary and normal between people who have already met socially. I did not kiss her cousin because I had not met him before.7
I then, as she says, took them on a long tour of the Palace of Westminster and for tea on the terrace, which people enjoy. So her account is factually accurate but the connotations of inappropriate behaviour that she makes are wholly inaccurate and seem to me be the product of her imagination. I was simply trying to be kind and to help her but her account distorts the intent.
[…]
As I said above I accept that sometimes I fail to read social cues and with [GH] I may have been somewhat over friendly. This was never with inappropriate intentions. To reiterate: I acknowledge the behaviour as reported but NOT her interpretation of the intent
Although my meeting with [GH] took place before the original complaint against me the complaint she made was after the published report about my behaviour and I think that [GH] reviewed her experience in the light of the published complaint.”
99.Lord Stone’s response was sent to GH.
100.Sam Evans and I interviewed GH by telephone on 31 January, with Mr Whittle in attendance.
101.We asked her how she felt about Lord Stone’s response. She told us:
“at the beginning it is worded sort of like “I do understand and I took responsibility”, but then kind of reading that it is kind of like my imagination and everything that he was doing was solely to help me, and, like, I didn’t find everything to be 100% factual from what he has said, so it was definitely, you know—I just wasn’t expecting it to be worded like that, especially at the end when he says that—I think he said that—I only decided to come and say something and review what had happened because I saw that people had complained about him, which is not the case at all. So I hope—at least for me—that it is clear that I would never do something like this without thinking about it very, very carefully and understanding the weight of the situation, and, like, to not say, like, the truth of what happened because—I mean, everything that I said I feel is correct”.
102.We asked GH why she mentioned taking her cousin “as a precaution” in her original complaint and she said:
“So, when we had gone to the dinner where I had originally met him, after he had left, the person that is a mutual friend told me, “This is a great opportunity for you but just be careful”, so I said—I was, like, why, why should I be careful? He said, “No, you just don’t want anything to be, like, overfriendly”. So after he had said that, I understood that my mum could have come, I thought, okay, it is probably going to be nothing but I might as well not go and meet someone I don’t really know in a country that is not the one I live in on my own. It was kind of just for that extra little, like, just to have somebody there that you know.”
103.We asked her about Lord Stone’s greeting, where he kissed her on both cheeks, and what it was about that interaction that made her uncomfortable. She explained that “it was really close to my mouth” and “I wasn’t expecting—I just wasn’t expecting it; it was just a shock.” She said that her cousin had also commented that “she was also uncomfortable [about this interaction] and it hadn’t even been towards her”.
104.She told us that Lord Stone’s arm-stroking and waist-touching had made her “uncomfortable” during the tour and that this “overfamiliarity” continued during their lunch on the Terrace:
“Well, it was kind of like when he was talking to me, he would like reach over the table, and it wasn’t even in the context of what we were discussing, it wasn’t like he was comforting me or something; he would just kind of be like talking and then reach over or something and maybe like touch my arm or touch my shoulder”.
105.GH was aware from reading the previous report on the conduct of Lord Stone that he was in the process of completing behaviour change training. I explained to GH that, if I upheld her complaint, one option would be to recommend that Lord Stone continue with the training and that the trainers be provided with excerpts from the interview transcript in order to inform this. She told us, “I am totally fine with that. I think one of the reasons why I wanted to say something was specifically for reasons like that. I think that—yes, if it can be helpful, then absolutely.”
106.Lord Stone sent a further response on 10 April in which he summarised matters he had been reflecting on as a result of his behaviour change coaching (see paragraph 10).
107.Sam Evans and I interviewed Lord Stone by video conference on 27 April, with Mr Whittle in attendance.
108.We began by talking through the elements of GH’s complaint and asking if he remembered the events as described. Lord Stone explained the manner in which he greeted her:
“I then greeted her as I used do with all my guests that I know but I am not going to do any more—by kissing her, yes, on both cheeks, and you notice that, because I didn’t know her cousin, I didn’t kiss her. So those people that I am with, that I am helping, that I am saying, “Come and visit me”, and that I feel that I am part of their circle, I will give them a kiss on both sides. But with somebody who I have never met, I wouldn’t do that. I think that is a validation of where I was coming from.”
109.When asked whether he remembered stroking GH’s arm or touching her waist, Lord Stone told us:
“Okay, one of the things that I do, whether it is a man or woman, is I take them to the Queen’s robing room […] So I am walking the complainant through as if she were queen. I was acting the part, which I often do, to tell people what the procedure is every year that the Queen comes through, sits on that throne, the MPs from the Commons are called, we, as Lords, are sitting in our ermine, they, the MPs, are standing, and The Queen then makes the Queen’s Speech. So it was a bit of acting, yes, of what we do—giving her the atmosphere of being The Queen and I was guiding her through the acting, but nothing more.”
110.When I asked whether he had called GH “young and beautiful”, he replied, “Probably, but I think that might have been in relation to Queen Victoria, who was this, you know, beautiful woman who was going to be standing in front of all these men and having to make the speech and be scared.”
111.I asked him if he agreed “that there was a certain amount of touching” during the tea on the Terrace and he replied:
“Yes, I certainly do and, having now spoken to friends, had the [behaviour change coaching] and thought about it, I realise that all my life I have been tactile. You know, if I was sitting with you, I might reach over and say, “I am really sorry”, and touch you on the outside of the arm between the wrist and the shoulder. I had no idea until all this had happened that this is something which is offensive to people.”
112.We questioned Lord Stone about his email of 14 January, in particular his comments about GH’s “imagination”:
“SAM EVANS: My next question relates to a comment you made in your email of 14 January where you said that you thought her connotations of inappropriate behaviour seemed to be the product of her imagination and distorted your intention. What did you mean by that? Do you think she was being unfair or malicious or oversensitive? What did you mean?
LORD STONE OF BLACKHEATH: Yes. What I meant was—and actually when I wrote that I was quite annoyed, and I now am calmer —that she herself has spoken about the amount of time, the generosity; the number of things that I did was extraordinary to her. And she thought that I was going to those lengths to be able, as has been said, to touch her on the arm and kiss her on both cheeks—nothing more, whatever. I was offended by the fact that in fact what I was doing was helping a friend who knows—you know, that says, “Oh, once Andrew has picked up one of these people he is going to do something which will change their lives”. And therefore having given—you know, you can imagine how busy I am, to take them to a tour of the House of Lords, to take them to tea on the terrace, to put them in the Chamber […]
SAM EVANS: Okay. Do you think she was being malicious? Why are you suggesting that she has turned that round to demonstrate a different intent?
LORD STONE OF BLACKHEATH: Maybe not malicious, but mistaken, yes.
SAM EVANS: Okay. So if she was mistaken, you know, so even if her perception or her concern about what might happen was not accurate, do you accept that her concerns of a possible ulterior motive was reasonable?
[…]
LORD STONE OF BLACKHEATH: Yes, I understand that from her perspective and what I now know about touching, sending things with kisses and kissing on both cheeks, it was not unreasonable for her to be worried by the subsequent manifestation that might happen, and therefore, yes, it is reasonable.”
113.Having accepted the main facts of GH’s account, we asked Lord Stone about his understanding of how his actions had made her feel:
“SAM EVANS: Can I ask, do you accept that the complainant becoming anxious and uncomfortable at being kissed and touched by you was reasonable in the circumstances?
LORD STONE OF BLACKHEATH: I now fully understand. A lot of people have been explaining to me that because I am a white, male Peer, then there is a power dynamic which does not allow the other person to express their disapproval. I never realised this.”
114.He went on to say:
“From what I understand now, young women who experience from a man—older and at a higher level of “power”—an invasion of their personal space, either physically by touching them or by kissing them on the cheek or by sending them a message with a kiss and feel that they are unable to complain or show distaste to that person’s power play, become upset, frustrated and annoyed, and the whole point of this Commission is to even that up and allow people to have a channel by which they can say, “This person is doing that and they should be stopped”.
Having understood that, I have now changed my behaviour by [attending the behaviour change coaching sessions], by meditation and by speaking to friends, which has enabled me to see that that behaviour is not acceptable; although there was a lot of it when I was young—I lived through the 60s—times are different and it was probably not acceptable then and it is even less acceptable now because I have this position where it could be abused.”
115.Lord Stone ended our interview by explaining in more detail how he thought he had begun to change since he had started his behaviour change coaching:
“What I would say to you now is that there were misdemeanours, there was a misconception of how I made people feel, there was an arrogance and an egotistic mindset that felt that I could get away with behaving in a way which was inappropriate—I do this—I speak out of turn and that, while that might have served me well in a lowerplace existence of self-preservation, because of my history, I now realise that that is not good.”
7 Lord Stone referred to GH’s cousin as “him” in his written response but in interview confirmed that this was an error: GH’s cousin was female.