Rupa Huq Has Labour Party Whip Suspended
Ealing Central and Acton MP sanctioned for comments made about the Chancellor
Rupa Huq (right) at the Labour Party fringe meeting. Picture: Twitter/Guido Fawkes
Rupa Huq, the MP for Ealing Central and Acton, has had her Labour Party whip suspended following comments she made about the Chancellor.
The suspension is understood to have come into effect this Tuesday afternoon (27 September) after a recording emerged of her speaking about Kwasi Kwarteng at a fringe meeting at the Labour party conference in Liverpool the night before.
The event, What's Next for Labour's Agenda on Race, was hosted by British Future and the Black Equity Organisation and also attended by the party’s chair, Anneliese Dodds. The local MP can be heard in a clip, published by the Guido Fawkes website, saying, “I’m sorry if I was not making myself understood clearly. He superficially is a black man.”
She added that he had gone to one of the top schools in the country and that you wouldn’t know he was black if you heard him on Radio 4’s Today programme.
Her comments were labelled ‘racist and disgusting’ by Tory Party chair Jake Berry in a letter to Sir Keir Starmer. Angela Rayner, the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, described them as ‘unacceptable’ and called on Rupa Huq to apologise. Labour’s foreign affairs spokesman David Lammy described the remarks as "unfortunate" adding, "I wouldn't have made them myself."
Sajid Javid, Mr Kwarteng’s predecessor as Chancellor, said he was "appalled and saddened" by what was said adding, "Rather than give encouragement to racists and people who seek to divide us, she should know better. Not too late for her to show that she does."
Following the suspension Rupa Huq posted on Twitter, "I have today contacted Kwasi Kwarteng to offer my sincere and heartfelt apologies for the comments I made at yesterday's Labour conference fringe meeting.
"My comments were ill-judged and I wholeheartedly apologise to anyone affected."
While suspended Rupa Huq will continue to sit in the House of Commons as an independent MP.
Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism. Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets. We've always done that and won't be changing, in fact we'd like to do more. However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do. We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area. A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site. One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute. If you do support us in this way we'd be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor. For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you'd like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site. |
September 27, 2022