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Lord Kilclooney, the former Ulster Unionist Party MP John Taylor, has received fresh criticism after he described the Vice President-elect of the United States, Kamala Harris, as “Indian.”
He was previously reprimanded when in 2018 he referred to then-Taoiseach Leo Varadkar as a “typical Indian.”
On Monday Lord Kilclooney posted a tweet asking: “What happens if Biden goes ahead and the Indian becomes president? Who then becomes vice president?
British Labor MP and shadow spokesman for schools Wes Streeting said “action must be taken” against Lord Kilclooney.
“He did it before to Leo Varadkar and now he did it to Kamala Harris. This kind of racism would be unacceptable to anyone, but to a member of the House of Lords it is unbelievable, ”Streeting said.
The Conservative chairman of the House of Commons Northern Ireland Affairs committee said Lord Kilclooney’s comments were: “Bad. Rude. Racist. Terrible. “He added that he had filed a formal complaint with the Lord Speaker’s office.
After further criticism, Lord Kilclooney, in a series of replying tweets, said that he called Ms Harris “the Indian” because he did not know her name. He rejected any suggestion that he was racist.
While Biden prides himself on being Irish and Harris is rightfully proud of his Indian origin, I certainly withdraw my reference to her as Indian as she seems to have upset some people. I didn’t know her name and I identified her with the Indian term. Most of the people got it. Racist NO.
– Lord John Kilclooney (@KilclooneyJohn)
November 9, 2020
William Crawley, the host of BBC Radio Ulster’s Talkback program, tweeted to Lord Kilclooney to explain that Harris, who is the daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants, “is an American” and that the US constitution is clear on what is going on.
“Why do many media commentators describe her as a black person? That is pure racism!” Lord Kilclooney replied.
UUP leader Steve Aiken said Lord Kilclooney’s comments were “reprehensible.”
“There is simply no excuse for it. You should erase what you said and apologize. It’s not the first time he’s done something like this, but it should be the last, ”he said.
Speaker of the House of Lords Norman Fowler said Lord Kilclooney should retract and apologize. “This is an offensive way of referring to anyone, much less a woman who has just made history. The comment is totally unacceptable and has no place in British politics. It couldn’t be clearer, ”he added.
Subsequently, the 82-year-old crossbench colleague, who is no longer a member of the UUP, gave in to this pressure. He wrote: “While Biden is proud to be Irish and Harris is proud of her Indian origin, I certainly withdraw my reference to her as Indian as it seems to have upset some people. I didn’t know her name and I identified her with the Indian term. Most of the people got it. NOT racist. “
A spokesman for the US consulate in Belfast declined to comment.
It is understood that if President-elect Joe Biden “went ahead,” Ms. Harris would have the discretion to appoint her own Vice President, but her nomination would have to be approved by the Senate and House of Representatives.
Varadkar Episode
In 2018, after referring to Varadkar as “the Indian,” Lord Kilclooney insisted that he was not being racist.
“It is not racial abuse since he himself has confirmed that he is half Indian. That’s great and shouldn’t be discounted as Indians are a great breed. However, he has damaged relations between North and South by being continually offensive and provocative to the unionist majority in Nirland. “
Varadkar declined to respond, in addition to saying that at first he thought it was a “parody” Twitter account.
On Monday, Peter Osborne, former chairman of the Parade Commission and the Northern Community Relations Council, suggested that Lord Kilclooney was engaging in a “liquidation.”
“Really John?” tweeted. “I am aware that a) you like to finish and b) you already know the answer to the question you are asking. You don’t need to offend. You are better than that.”
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