Race row after UK peer calls Irish premier ‘typical Indian’
LONDON: A member of the House of Lords has triggered a race row after he referred to Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar — who reportedly visited Northern Ireland without following protocol — as a “typical Indian”.
John Taylor (Lord Kilclooney) tweeted the comment in response to a BBC report which quoted Democratic Unionist Party MP Jeffrey Donaldson as saying that the Monday visit by Varadkar — born to an Indian father and Irish mother — was “outside of normal protocol” and showed “poor manners”.
Taylor, a former deputy leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, quickly denied the charges of racism: “I am certainly no racist and in particular have an admiration for Indians. A member of the British/indian APPG (all-party parliamentary group), only yesterday I had a reply from 10 Downing St asking for a relaxation of visas for Indians.”
He added: “It is not racially abusive as he himself has confirmed he is half Indian. That is great and not to be dismissed as the Indians are a great race.”
However, by then the damage was done. Former Ulster Unionist leader Mike Nesbitt tweeted that the comment could only be interpreted as racist. Naomi Long, the leader of Alliance Party of Northern Ireland, said Taylor was “an embarrassment”.
This is not the first time that Taylor has played up Varadkar’s Indian roots. In November, he called Varadkar “the Indian”, but later withdrew the comment.
This fact was not lost on Irish senator Niall O Donnghaile, who said he would ask the speaker of the Irish senate to contact the speaker of the House of Lords, “urging him to take appropriate action regarding yet another offensive tweet from a member of the House of Lords regarding... Varadkar”.