Keir Starmer criticises Labour MP Rupa Huq over ‘racist’ comments about chancellor
Sir Keir Starmer has condemned a Labour MP for “racist” comments she made about Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng.
Rupa Huq was administratively suspended pending an investigation after she claimed that Mr Kwarteng was “superficially” black.
The MP for Ealing Central and Acton made the remarks about the UK’s first black chancellor at a Labour conference fringe event on Monday entitled “What’s Next for Labour’s Agenda on Race?”.
Sir Keir told LBC: “What she said in my view was racist, it was wrong and she’s been suspended from the whip in the party and that was done very, very quickly.”
The Labour leader said it was not his personal decision to suspend her, but “it’s a decision I absolutely agree with” and the MP will now face an investigation.
The criticism was echoed by shadow culture secretary Lucy Powell, who told Sky News’ Kay Burley this morning: “Rupa’s comments were racist, in my view, they were wrong, they were incredibly stupid.”
Ms Powell said that an investigation by the party will follow which will be carried out independently of MPs.
She added that someone who made such comments should “face serious sanction”.
Asked if Ms Huq would be allowed to stay in the party, Ms Powell again said a disciplinary procedure was under way.
She said she did not want to turn the situation into a “party political point”, before criticising the Conservatives for not “standing up and taking action against misdemeanours of their own parliamentarians”.
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Should a ‘racist’ be allowed back into Labour?
After her suspension, Ms Huq apologised for her “ill-judged” comments.
“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,” she posted on social media.
“My comments were ill-judged and I wholeheartedly apologise to anyone affected.”
Jake Berry, the Conservative Party chairman, had condemned Ms Huq’s “vile” comments before her suspension and urged Sir Keir to remove the whip.
In audio posted online by the Guido Fawkes website, Ms Huq says of Mr Kwarteng: “Superficially he is a black man.
“He went to Eton, I think, he went to a very expensive prep school, all the way through, the top schools in the country.
“If you hear him on the Today programme, you wouldn’t know he is black.”
Labour said: “We condemn the remarks and urge her to withdraw them and apologise.”
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The suspension came shortly after Sir Keir finished his conference speech, which he used to argue now is a “Labour moment” for the party to provide the leadership the nation “so desperately needs”.
The event in Liverpool draws to a close on Wednesday with Labour in a buoyant mood following a series of poll leads over the Tories.
In media rounds today, Sir Keir said he has shifted Labour to be closer to the party of Sir Tony Blair, the former prime minister, than the version led by Jeremy Corbyn.
A 16-year-old boy has been arrested by anti-terrorism police in France after he allegedly said on social media he wanted to “die a martyr” at the Olympic Games in Paris this summer.
A spokesperson said on Wednesday the boy was arrested after he “publicly announced on social media that he planned to create an explosive belt to become a martyr”.
The teenager was arrested at his parents’ home on Tuesday after the alleged posts on Telegram the day prior, BFMTV reported.
The French outlet also reported that a search of the teenager’s home found handwritten papers in which he allegedly declared support for Islamic State.
The spokesperson said that an investigation was under way into whether he had genuine intentions to commit a terrorist act.
It comes after French President Emmanuel Macron previously admitted that the Olympics opening ceremony could be scaled down if the security threat is deemed too high.
Amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and continuing conflict in the Middle East, France previously raised its security alert to its highest level.
Emmanuel Macron takes part in the Varietes Club charity football match. Pic: Reuters
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The government also asked 45 foreign countries to contribute several thousand extra military, police and civilian personnel to help safeguard the games, Reuters reports.
Earlier this month, Mr Macron said he was confident the opening ceremony, planned to take place on the River Seine, would go ahead but that France had “plan Bs, and even plan Cs” just in case.
This came in the face of concerns over potential security threats to the Games.
The 26 July event is set to be the first Olympic opening ceremony held outside a stadium setting and will see about 10,500 athletes parade through the heart of the French capital on some 160 boats on the Seine along a 3.7-mile route.
But if issues did arise, Mr Macron said that the ceremony could be restricted to the central Paris Trocadero square, facing the Eiffel Tower.
Another option would be to move the event indoors, to the Stade de France.
World
Israel-Hamas war: Hostage’s parents tell him ‘stay strong’ after video shows him alive but missing part of arm
The parents of an Israeli hostage have told him “we love you, stay strong, survive” after he appeared with part of his arm missing in a video released by Hamas.
Hersh Goldberg-Polin was kidnapped at the Nova musical festival when Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October.
The video shows him with his lower left arm missing; witnesses said it was blown off when he helped throw grenades out of a shelter where people were hiding.
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He reportedly used his shirt as a tourniquet to stem the bleeding, but was captured.
Hersh Goldberg-Polin (middle) was one of over 200 people kidnapped. Pic: Reuters
Clearly under duress in the undated video, the 23-year-old criticises Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government, saying they should be “ashamed” for not securing the hostages’ release.
He also claims Israeli bombings have killed “about 70 detainees like me” and that the rest are living in an “underground hell without water, food, or sun”.
Mr Goldberg-Polin, who wears a red shirt and sits against a plain white wall, finishes with an appeal to his parents, telling them “stay strong” and “I love you so much, and miss you so much”.
His parents responded to Wednesday’s video by filming their own emotional response.
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Jon Polin says hearing his son for the first time in more than 200 days is “overwhelming”.
“We are relieved to see him alive but we are also concerned about his health and wellbeing as well as that of all the other hostages, and all of those suffering in this region,” he says.
Mr Polin calls for the countries involved in negotiations to “be brave, lean in, seize this moment and get a deal done to reunite all of us with our loved ones and end the suffering in this region”.
His mother, Rachel Goldberg-Polin, stares resolutely into the camera and tells him: “Hersh, if you can hear his, we heard your voice today for the first time in 201 days… I am telling you – we are telling you – we love you, stay strong, survive.”
Rachel Goldberg holding photos of her son a few weeks after the October attack. Pic: Reuters
Friends and family continue to raise awareness of his captivity. Pic: Reuters
The 23-year-old was born in California but moved to Jerusalem with his family when he was younger.
He was among about 250 Israelis and foreigners kidnapped in the initial Hamas attack, which also killed around 1,200 people.
Some hostages were freed in a deal last year, but more than 100 are still unaccounted for and there is huge pressure in Israel for the government to bring them home.
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Baby saved from womb of dying mother
Israel’s aim to wipe out Hamas has so far killed more than 34,000 people in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health authority.
Hundreds of thousands are also said to be on the brink of starvation and have been forced to flee the violence.
Fears are growing that a ground assault on the southern city of Rafah – where more than a million people are sheltering – is imminent after Mr Netanyahu said Israel was “moving ahead” with its plans.
Police in Australia have launched a manhunt for former soap opera star Orpheus Pledger after he failed to appear in court to face charges of assault.
Pledger, 30, was due to appear at Melbourne Magistrates Court on Tuesday accused of assaulting a woman, Sky News Australia said.
The actor had been granted bail on Tuesday for a court-ordered hospital assessment and had been ordered to return to court the following day, but didn’t show up.
On Wednesday Victoria Police issued a warrant for his arrest and asked the public to help find him.
Pic: Victoria Police
The force said in a statement he was wanted over an “assault-related matter” and hoped “someone may be able to provide information on his current whereabouts”.
Described as “approximately 170cm [5ft, 6in] tall with brown hair and tanned complexion”, police said he was known to frequent the north Melbourne suburb of Northcote and surrounding areas.
Pledger’s manager, Craig McMahon told the Sydney Morning Herald he had not been in contact with his client this week but that he had been shocked by the assault allegations.
Mr McMahon told the paper his client had suffered from mental health issues for a long time.
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Pledger starred in Neighbours, another Australian soap, in 2011 before joining the cast of Home and Away in 2016 where he played Mason Morgan for three years.
Earlier in his career, he appeared in other TV shows, Silversun and CrashBurn.
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