Rami Ranger, Baron Ranger Explained

Honorific Prefix:The Right Honourable
The Lord Ranger
Office:Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
Term Start:11 October 2019
Life peerage
Birth Name:Raminder Singh Ranger
Birth Place:Gujranwala, West Punjab, Pakistan
Nationality:British
Party:Conservative
Occupation:Businessman
Spouse:Renu Ranger
Children:3, including Reena Ranger

Raminder Singh Ranger, Baron Ranger, (May 1948) is a British businessman, and the founder of Sun Mark and Sea Air & Land Forwarding, an international marketing and distribution company. He is also chairman and managing director of Sea Air and Land Forwarding Ltd.

He was nominated for a life peerage in Theresa May's 2019 resignation honours,[1] and was created Baron Ranger, of Mayfair in the City of Westminster, on 11 October 2019.[2]

Early life and education

Raminder Singh Ranger was born on 28 May 1948[3] in Gujranwala, Pakistan. The family moved to Patiala in Indian Punjab as refugees of the partition of India.[4] There he attended Mohindra College and obtained a Bachelor of Arts from Government College, Chandigarh.[4]

He has seven brothers and a sister. Ranger ceased his studies after reaching the UK, where he had gone to study law, in May 1971.

Career

Ranger is the Chairman of Sun Mark Ltd and Sea Air & Land Forwarding Ltd.[5] He was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of West London in July 2016.[6]

An employment tribunal ruled in 2021 that Ranger harassed a woman who complained about sexual harassment in his company.[7] [8] [9] [10]

Honours

He was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2005 Birthday Honours for services to business and the Asian community, and made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2016 New Year Honours for services to business and community cohesion.

Social and political work

As of January 2018, Ranger, through Sun Mark, had donated more than £1 million to the Conservative Party, and £25,000 to Theresa May's party leadership campaign.[11]

Ranger was appointed the joint chairman of Conservative Friends of India in 2018, sharing the role with then-MP Zac Goldsmith. The group, which is affiliated to the Conservative Party, aims to build stronger links between the party, the British Indian community and India.[12]

Hindu Forum of Britain

A representative of Nithyananda attended a Diwali event held in October 2022 at the Houses of Parliament as a guest of the Hindu Forum of Britain. Nithya Atmadayananda, a prominent supporter of Nithyananda, was photographed with Bob Blackman and President of the Hindu Forum of Britain, Trupti Patel. The event was attended by Rami Ranger. The brochure for the event featured a full-page advert for Kailasa UK containing images of Nithyananda.[13] [14] [15] [16] Ranger told The Observer he had no knowledge of Nithyananda or his organisation stating: "I do not know Kailaasa or this person."[17]

Attacks on journalists

Ranger was reported in December 2022 to be under investigation by authorities at the House of Lords in regard to the alleged harassment of journalist Poonam Joshi who reported on Ranger's attendance at a Diwali event in the Houses of Parliament also attended by a representative of fugitive Cult-leader Nithyananda. Ranger is alleged to have used Twitter and WhatsApp to send Joshi messages that threatened her.[18] In June 2023 Ranger was criticised by the House of Lords Commissioner for Standards for bullying and harassing Joshi.[19] [20]

In January 2023 it was reported that Ranger had sent a letter to BBC Director General Tim Davie regarding the documentary "" in which he asked if "Pakistani-origin staff were behind this nonsense".[21] [22]

Personal life

Ranger is married to Renu, and they have three daughters.[23] [24] His eldest daughter, Reena Ranger, is also a Conservative politician, and has taken over from him as co-chairman of Conservative Friends of India.[23] Reena is married to Harmeet "Sunny" Singh Ahuja, who is the CEO of Sun Mark and the Ranger family businesses.[23] [24]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: LORD RAMI RANGER: Refugee Boy to Become a Lord in Britain - Asian News from UK. 10 September 2019.
  2. https://members.parliament.uk/member/4729/contact
  3. Web site: Raminder Ranger . api.parliament.uk . 29 June 2022.
  4. https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/punjab-origin-rami-ranger-moves-from-partition-rags-to-house-of-lords/story-Tvma1rS3yuH6b2tvR8aqKP.html Punjab-origin Rami Ranger moves from Partition rags to House of Lords
  5. News: Lords inquiry launched into Tory peer accused of bullying female journalist. 20 December 2022. The Guardian.
  6. Web site: Honorary Doctor of Letters . University of West London. 21 July 2016.
  7. News: Rushton . Katherine . Young . Charles . 2021-04-13 . Exclusive: Tory peer who championed equality 'victimised' female complainant . en-GB . . subscription . 2023-02-01 .
  8. News: Pogrund . Gabriel . 13 April 2021 . Lord Ranger called worker who feared abuse a 'silly girl' . en . . subscription . 2023-02-01 .
  9. Ms Raminder Kaur v Sun Mark Ltd,Lord Rami Ranger,Mr Kapil Sharma,Mr Ravi Gidar,SARR Management Ltd,Sea Air and Land Forwarding Ltd,Mr Harmeet Ahuja,Mr Nayaz Qazi,Lady Renu Ranger . Watford Employment Tribunal. 7-11,14-18 September 2020. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6093ac51e90e076aa7da9a5f/Ms_R_Kaur_v_Sun_Mark_Limited___others-3334669-2018-Judgment.pdf. Lord Ranger did victimise the Claimant contrary to section 27(1) of theEquality Act 2010, harass her contrary to section 26(1) of the Act, anddirectly discriminate against her contrary to section 13(1) of the Act when, inan intemperate telephone call on 5 October 2018, the Claimant havinginformed him she was raising allegations of sexual harassment, he stated –(a) he would not ‘spare her’;(b) he would get the evidence together and see her in Court;(c) she was insolent;(d) she had no virtues and compared her to a female member of a non-elite peasant caste;(e) she was silly and stupid;(f) she was a liar;(g) she was an absolute troublemaker;(h) she was a horrible girl;(i) she had ruined her parents’ honour.
  10. SUN MARK LTD,LORD RAMI RANGER.SEA AIR LAND FORWARDING LTD,HARMEET v MS RAMANDEEP KAUR. Employment Appeal Tribunal. 25 January 2022. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6217cc8fe90e0710c2aab758/Sun_Mark_Ltd___Others_v_Ms_Ramandeep_Kaur__2022__EAT_32.pdf.
  11. News: Doward. Jamie. Neate. Rupert. Presidents Club party guest backed Theresa May's Tory leader bid. 28 January 2018. The Guardian. 28 January 2018.
  12. Web site: Welcome to my website. www.conservativefriendsofindia.co.uk. 24 July 2018.
  13. News: Sawer . Patrick . Joshi . Poonam . 11 December 2022 . Work of cult leader wanted by Indian police promoted in Houses of Parliament Diwali pamphlet . en-GB . The Telegraph . limited . 12 December 2022.
  14. Web site: 12 December 2022 . Nithyananda's representative attends House of Lords' Diwali party on Tories invite . 13 December 2022 . The Indian Express . en.
  15. Web site: 12 December 2022 . UK Conservative leaders invite rape-accused Nithyananda's deputy to event in Parliament . 13 December 2022 . The News Minute . en.
  16. Web site: Events . https://web.archive.org/web/20221213194415/http://www.hfb.org.uk/events.html . 13 December 2022 . 13 December 2022 . www.hfb.org.uk . . en-GB.
  17. News: 11 December 2022 . Tories invited UK representative of fugitive Hindu guru to party at House of Lords . en . The Guardian . 13 December 2022.
  18. Web site: Stacey . Kiran . 20 December 2022 . Lords inquiry launched into Tory peer accused of bullying female journalist . 30 January 2023 . The Guardian . en.
  19. News: Stacey . Kiran . 13 June 2023 Tory peer 'undermined and humiliated' journalist, finds Lords commissioner . The Guardian . 13 June 2023 . Guardian . 14 June 2023.
  20. News: Sawer . Patrick . 2023-06-13 . Tory peer bullied, harassed and humiliated women's rights campaigner . en-GB . The Telegraph . 2023-06-17 .
  21. News: Allegretti . Aubrey . Stacey . Kiran . 30 January 2023 . Tory peer accused of 'racially charged' attack on BBC Modi documentary . 30 January 2023 . The Guardian . en.
  22. News: Allegretti . Aubrey . Stacey . Kiran . 31 January 2023 . Tory peer withdraws 'racially charged' comments . 29 April 2023 . The Guardian . en.
  23. Web site: Lord Rami Ranger . Eastern Eye . 13 February 2024.
  24. News: Entrepreneur and philanthropist Rami Ranger celebrates his 70th birthday with style . 13 February 2024 . Asian Voice . 17 July 2017.

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