A Conservative MP has been found guilty of racially abusing an activist by telling him to “go back to Bahrain”.
Bob Stewart showed “racial hostility” towards a protester during a demonstration outside a Foreign Office building, a court heard.
The MP for Beckenham in southeast London told activist Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei “you’re taking money off my country, go away!” during a row in Westminster on December 14 last year.
Mr Alwadaei shouted: “Bob Stewart, for how much did you sell yourself to the Bahraini regime?”
During a heated exchange, Stewart replied: “Go away, I hate you. You make a lot of fuss. Go back to Bahrain.”
In footage played during a trial at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday, he also said: “Now shut up, you stupid man.”
Chief magistrate Paul Goldspring found the MP guilty of a racially aggravated public order offence.
He said Stewart will not be jailed.
The Liberal Democrats have called for Rishi Sunak to kick Stewart out of the parliamentary Conservative Party.
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The Metropolitan Police launched an investigation into the incident after a complaint was made by Mr Alwadaei, who has said he was living in exile after being tortured in the Gulf state.
During the one-day trial, Mr Alwadaei alleged that Bahrain was “corrupt” and a “human rights violator”, and said it was his right to protest against the MP’s involvement with the state.
Asked how he felt after the incident, the activist said: “I feel that I was dehumanised, like I was someone who is not welcomed in the UK.
“Because of my skin colour, because of where I came from, he feels I am taking money from his country.”
‘Racial hostility’
Mr Alwadaei also claimed that if he returned to Bahrain, he would “undoubtedly be killed and tortured”.
Prosecutor Paul Jarvis said Stewart had “demonstrated racial hostility towards Mr Alwadaei by way of his comments”, and while he was “not motivated by racial hostility”, he had demonstrated it.
In response to the accusation, the MP said it was “absurd” and “totally unfair”, stating he was “not a racist”.
He added: “My life has been, I don’t want to say destroyed, but I am deeply hurt at having to appear in a court like this.”
The 74-year-old politician told the court he had “no idea” who Mr Alwadaei was when the incident occurred and that he used the word “hate” because of what the protester was saying.
Stewart added: “‘Go back to Bahrain’ meant why don’t you go back to Bahrain and make your point there?”
‘Honour at stake’
Asked if he accused Mr Alwadaei of taking money from the UK, the MP said: “I made the assumption he too was living in this country and was benefiting from living in this country.
“I certainly didn’t mean he was a freeloader.”
But he defended his reaction to the protester, telling the court: “He was saying that I was corrupt and that I had taken money. My honour was at stake in front of a large number of ambassadors.
“It upset me and I thought it was extremely offensive.”
Sir Keir Starmer will attend Armistice Day commemorations in France on Monday – the first UK leader to do so since Winston Churchill in the Second World War.
Towns and cities across France will mark the 106th anniversary of the Armistice agreement in 1918 that brought fighting in the First World War to an end.
Sir Keir will attend the events at the personal invitation of President Emmanuel Macron and the pair will join British and French veterans and the public in paying tribute to the fallen.
It comes as the prime minister announces more than £10m to mark the 80th anniversaries of VE and VJ Day in the UK next year.
Sir Keir is expected to lay a wreath at Paris war memorials close to the Champ-Elysees, and also at the Arc de Triomphe’s Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, a national symbol for all those who have died for France in war.
The prime minister said: “I am honoured to be in Paris to stand united with President Macron in tribute to the fallen of the First World War who made the ultimate sacrifice for the freedom we enjoy today.
“These events are vital in ensuring the memory of millions of young soldiers, sailors, and aviators live on for generations to come.”
More on Keir Starmer
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Princess of Wales at Remembrance Sunday
On Sunday, Remembrance events were held across the UK as the nation paid tribute to those who have served in the armed forces past and present.
King Charles, who is still receiving cancer treatment, paid his respects without the Queen, who did not attend events in central London due to a chest infection.
He appeared alongside his son Prince William and daughter-in-law, the Princess of Wales, who carried out two consecutive public engagements for the first time this year after her cancer treatment ended.
The King led the nation’s Remembrance Sunday commemorations as he laid a wreath at the Cenotaph during a two-minute silence.
Charles, who is still receiving cancer treatment, paid his respects without the Queen, who did not attend events in central London due to a chest infection.
He appeared alongside his son Prince William and daughter-in-law, Kate, Princess of Wales, who carried out two consecutive public engagements for the first time this year after her cancer treatment ended.
Sunday was the King’s third Remembrance service as monarch.
The Royal British Legion’s veteran parade along Whitehall featured 10,000 veterans from 326 different armed forces and civil organisations.
Similar memorial events took place in Edinburgh, Cardiff, and Belfast, as well as smaller towns and cities.
Politicians from the four nations laid wreaths in capital cities, while veterans and their families also gathered for events in Portsmouth, the home of this year’s D-Day anniversary commemorations, and the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire.
Thousand of people, including Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and eight of his predecessors, watched as the nation fell silent at 11am.
Among the former leaders were Rishi Sunak, Liz Truss, Boris Johnson, Theresa May, Lord David Cameron, Gordon Brown, Sir Tony Blair, and Sir John Major.
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Kemi Badenoch, the new Conservative Party leader, also laid a wreath alongside the prime minister.
On Saturday evening, the Prince and Princess of Wales attended the Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall, along with the King.
Hours beforehand, Buckingham Palace announced Queen Camilla would not be attending either of the Remembrance events. It is understood there is no cause for concern but that doctors did not want to hinder her recovery or put anyone else at risk.
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Princess of Wales at Remembrance Sunday
This year marks the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings of the Second World War and the 25th anniversary of the end of the war in Kosovo.
It also marks the 75th anniversary of NATO and the 120th anniversary of the Entente Cordiale between the UK and France.
The UK is ready to fight a war, the head of the armed forces has insisted, after the defence secretary recently suggested the military is not prepared for a conflict.
Admiral Sir Tony Radakin also stressed the importance of continuing to back Ukraine when asked about the potential impact of the re-election of Donald Trump on Russia’s war.
He said more than 1,500 Russian troops had been killed or injured in the warzone every day during October. That equates to more than 46,000 people – equivalent to more than half of the British Army.
The Chief of the Defence Staff used the Russian casualty figure to underline the cost to Vladimir Putin of his invasion, but analysts say the Kremlin has proven itself more than capable of absorbing high attrition rates without changing its war aims.
Asked if the UK could fight a war at scale, he said: “Absolutely. So our servicemen and women will always be ready to serve their nation and to do as the government of the day directs us to do.”
Last month, however, John Healey, the new Labour defence secretary, told a Politico podcast that the armed forces were not ready to fight after being hollowed out and under-funded during 14 years of Conservative rule.
In reality, the hollowing out and under-funding also took place under the previous Labour government.
Pressed by Trevor Phillips on whether the army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force had the capabilities to fight a war, Admiral Radakin said: “We do have the capabilities. And then the reassurance is that we do that alongside our allies.
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“And for those biggest fights, then we will always do them with our allies.”
He conceded, though, that the UK needs to be “even stronger in the future”.
Admiral Radakin added: “Some of that is about having deeper stockpiles. Some of that is being better at bringing technology and learning the lessons from Ukraine… And some of that is also recognising that you need to have a defence industry that can better support those demands.
“We’re in a more dangerous world.”
The top commander repeatedly stressed the importance of being part of NATO to be able to counter the biggest threats faced by the UK.
The president-elect threatened to quit NATO when he was US commander-in-chief the first time around, and he has repeatedly berated member states that do not meet a minimum spending commitment of 2% of national income.
Mr Trump is also expected to take a different approach to the war in Ukraine to Joe Biden, saying he will end the fighting – but without yet explaining how.
Trevor Phillips asked Admiral Radakin how confident he was that the United States would continue to stand “shoulder to shoulder” with Ukraine.
The defence chief declined to speculate on potential US policy so soon after the election.
Instead, he said: “What you’re seeing is a Russia that is making tactical gains and is seizing more territory, but is doing that at enormous cost, enormous cost in terms of its soldiers – over 1,500 people a day are either killed or wounded in October.”