Tory peer Michelle Mone is accused of calling man of Indian heritage a ‘waste of a man’s white skin’
Race row as Tory peer Michelle Mone is accused of calling a man of Indian heritage a ‘waste of a man’s white skin’ in WhatsApp ‘dispute’ after fatal Monaco yacht crash
Entrepreneur, 50, allegedly sent racist message to a financial consultant in 2019She reportedly referred to man’s partner as a ‘nut case bird’ and ‘mental loony’Complainant said exchange came weeks after boat crash that killed crew worker House of Lords member’s lawyers said she has no ‘detailed memory’ of exchange
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Tory peer Michelle Mone has been accused of calling a man of Indian heritage a ‘waste of a man’s white skin’ in a WhatsApp exchange.
The entrepreneur, 50, allegedly sent the racist message to a financial consultant in June 2019 after a yacht crash which killed one team member.
In the exchange, seen by The Guardian, Baroness Mone reportedly refers to the man’s partner as a ‘nut case bird’ and ‘mental loony’.
Lawyers for the House of Lords member said she has no ‘detailed memory’ of or ‘access’ to the messages and denied that she is a racist.
The man made an official complaint to the Lords commissioner for standards, Martin Jelley, earlier this year but was told it would not be investigated because the exchange did not take place during the course of her parliamentary duties.
Michelle Mone (pictured on a yacht in an unknown location) 50, allegedly sent the racist message to a financial consultant in 2019 after a yacht crash which killed one team member
Lawyers for the House of Lords member, pictured with her husband Douglas Barrowman, said she has no ‘detailed memory’ or ‘access’ to the messages and denied that she is a racist
The complainant claims he and his partner were guests on another yacht which crashed into that of Baroness Mone and her husband, Scottish businessman Douglas Barrowman.
He said the messages were sent in the weeks after the boat crash off the coast of Monaco in May 2019.
The man, who describes himself as brown-skinned, alleges Baroness Mone queried whether his partner was mentally affected by the crash in a message on June 13.
He responded that she had been severely traumatised by the event and reportedly told Baroness Mone to ‘back the f*** off’.
She then allegedly called his girlfriend a ‘mental loony’ and wrote: ‘Your [sic] a low life, a waste of a mans [sic] white skin so don’t give us your lies. Your [sic] a total disgrace.’
The complainant said Baroness Mone later told him he was blocked and to ‘take his mental case to the police station’.
Michelle Mone (pictured in 2017) sold her lingerie company Ultimo in 2014 and was sworn in as a life peer by then Prime Minister David Cameron in the House of Lords in 2015
In a statement, Baroness Mone’s lawyers said: ‘She is not prepared to comment on the messages unless and until their authenticity has been confirmed but Baroness Mone, in any event, very strongly denies that she is a racist, a sexist or that she has a lack of respect for those persons genuinely suffering with mental health difficulties.’
They added that Baroness Mone did not know the man was of Indian heritage because ‘his appearance is 100 per cent white’.
The lawyers also cast doubt over the motives of the complainant, who once worked for Mr Barrowman.
Referring to the man’s complaint, a House of Lords spokesperson told the newspaper: ‘Where a complaint does not relate to a member’s parliamentary duties, it is not covered by the code or the remit of the commissioner for standards.’
Baroness Mone, who sold her lingerie company Ultimo in 2014, was sworn in as a life peer by then Prime Minister David Cameron in the House of Lords in 2015.
She swore an oath of allegiance to the Queen flanked by the then Welfare minister Lord Freud and Tory peer Baroness Morris of Bolton.
