Liberal Democrats embroiled in race row after diversity chief is ejected from party

The Liberal Democrats have become embroiled in a bitter race row after the chair of their ethnic minority group was ejected from the party.

Ruwan Uduwerage-Perera, former chair of the Ethnic Minority Liberal Democrats (EMLD), was told his membership had been terminated with immediate effect last week, after an internal disciplinary panel upheld allegations of harassment and intimidation against him.

However, senior figures in the EMLD, which champions diversity in the party, have reacted with outrage, refusing to accept the decision, and plan to write to the party’s president and its leader, Tim Farron, demanding Mr Uduwerage-Perera be reinstated.

Speaking to The Independent, Mr Uduwerage-Perera accused the party of not doing enough to stamp out “institutional racism”.

Mr Uduwerage-Perera, a former Lib Dem deputy leader of Newbury Town Council, resigned from the post in July last year after an investigation found he had behaved in an “intimidating and bullying” manner toward council staff.

He has now been dismissed from the party over further allegations of intimidating behaviour toward a fellow Lib Dem councillor, as well as for bringing the party into disrepute by contacting local media about grievances.

He denies the charges against him and maintains his dispute at the council related to whistleblowing activity, after he became aware the council had failed to claim back £50,000 in legal expenses following a dispute with a developer.

A draft letter, seen by The Independent, from two vice chairs of the EMLD, to be sent to the party’s president Baroness Brinton and Mr Farron, warns that the dismissal “could seriously damage the party’s reputation in BME [black and minority ethnic] communities and hamper our ability to recruit members”. “We wish to express our shock and outrage at the decision”, the draft letter says.

Under party rules, the Lib Dems cannot make the full findings of their internal report public. But in a letter to Mr Uduwerage-Perera sent last week, he was told a disciplinary panel had concluded that “acts of harassment, intimidation and bullying” had been “proven beyond reasonable doubt”.

However, a leading equality campaigner has joined calls for the party to “rethink” the decision. Simon Woolley, director of Operation Black Vote, an apolitical group working to increase public representation of black and ethnic minority people, said the party’s actions had been “disproportionate”.

“It’s troubling that such a high-profile BME figure has been treated this way, not least because he had a whole series of complaints he made that he would argue had not been taken seriously, and yet the accusations against him have led to the kitchen sink being thrown at him,” Mr Woolley said.

It was “deeply troubling” that many questions are unanswered in a “virtually all-white party”, he added.

The Lib Dems have faced long-standing criticism over representation of black and minority communities. The party did not have a single black or minority MP in the last Parliament and last year was criticised by party member Pauline Pearce for “underhand racism” and “Neanderthal views on diversity”.

In a statement, the EMLD said Mr Uduwerage-Perera had “worked tirelessly on behalf of the Liberal Democrats”, and called on Lady Brinton “to ensure Mr Uduwerage-Perera has a fair and realistic opportunity to present his case for appeal”.

Mr Uduwerage-Perera said: “I am not seeking to damage the party. I want to protect its principles. I want to help the party become truly relevant to politics. At the moment it’s not; it’s an elitist club.”

He said the party was not doing enough to conduct equality assessments of the impact of its policies, resulting in “institutional racism”.

A spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats said the party rejected the accusation as it has an equality assessment group which reviews draft policy. They added: “The Liberal Democrats take harassment, intimidation and bullying extremely seriously. We find any such behaviour totally unacceptable.

“Mr Uduwerage-Perera’s membership of the party has been terminated with immediate effect following a disciplinary hearing.”