“I admire them.”
Former Unionist MP John Taylor hit the headlines on Monday evening when he referred to Taoiseach Leo Varadkar as a “typical Indian”.
Taylor, who now goes by the title Lord Kilclooney, made the comment over social media in response to a BBC article which said Leo Varadkar was accused of poor manners.
https://twitter.com/KilclooneyJohn/status/990954166741856256?tfw_site=joedotie&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.joe.ie%2Fnews%2Fvaradkar-typical-indian-624473
The comment received a backlash online with some calling it “shameful” and “appalling.”
Alliance Party leader Naomi Long condemned the words from Kilclooney saying:
“Lord Kilclooney’s tweet is a racial slur, insulting of not only the Taoiseach and the Irish people, but of Indian people, too. There is no explaining this one away like last time. The HoL needs to address his conduct: it is deliberate, calculated disrespect.”
However it’s unlikely the Standards Commissioner of the House of Lords will look into the matter as Long said that they’ve indicated his tweets are outside their remit.
Kilclooney took to Twitter again to follow up on his earlier tweet, and has been engaging people on social media since he made the statement.
He wrote:
“I am certainly no racist and in particular have an admiration for Indians.a member of the British/Indian APPG only yesterday I had a reply from 10 Downing St asking for a relaxation of visas for Indians. My point was that the PM had upset Unionists more than Irish PMs had!”
He continued to say later that:
“I wanted to highlight that, unlike native Irish PMs, he had contravened the normal courtesies of visiting the UK and I certainly have succeeded. As one who works for Indians in the UK I am most definitely no racist – far from it – I admire them.”
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