Suspended Labour MP apologises for Kwarteng comment
LABOUR MP Rupa Huq was suspended from the party on Tuesday (27) after being accused of making racist comments about chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng.
Huq, who represents Ealing Central and Acton in west London, described Kwarteng as “superficially black” and his predecessor Rishi Sunak as a “little brown guy” at a Labour conference fringe event in Liverpool on Monday (26) called What’s Next for Labour’s Agenda on Race?
Talking about the chancellor’s education at elite schools (he went to Eton), Huq said, “If you hear him ... you wouldn’t know he is black.”
A spokesperson for Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer told reporters: “We obviously condemn the remarks that she made that were totally inappropriate, and we will call on her to apologise and withdraw those comments.”
Huq later posted a message on Twitter offering Kwarteng “my sincere and heartfelt apologies for the comments” which she said were ill-judged.
Prior to the apology, Huq told the Guardian she stood by her remarks. She added, “Obviously, I know you can be brown and be a Tory. I’m not that stupid”.
She also described the criticism of her comments as a ‘massive misunderstanding”.
Sunder Katwala, the director of think-tank British Future who chaired the event, said “the Labour
party has to be really careful” on the issue.
The deputy Labour leader, Angela Rayner, said the remarks were “unacceptable”.
Huq also accused the Conservative party of having a “superficial” multicultural leadership race to succeed Boris Johnson as prime minister.
Among those who put their hat in the ring in the summer were Sunak, Kemi Badenoch (now trade secretary), Suella Braverman (the new home secretary) and former chancellor Sajid Javid.
She said: “OK, superficially they have had four brown chancellors and that.
“But when you have a little brown guy who .... and also the leadership contest, I think that I would say alludes to that. When there was say Suella Braverman, Kemi Badenoch, all these people in it superficially ‘oh, look, it’s a multicultural leadership race’.”
Former health secreatary and Tory MP Sajid Javid said he was “appalled and saddened” by Huq’s remarks. He added: “Rather than give encouragement to racists and the people who seek to divide us, she should know better. Not too late for her to show that she does.”