New Delhi: Lord John Kilclooney, an 89-year-old politician from the UK, sparked outrage after he referred to US Vice President-elect Kamala Harris as “the Indian”.
Kilclooney, a former leader of the Ulster Unionist Party and member of the House of Lords — the upper house of the British Parliament — had tweeted Monday, “What happens if Biden moves on and the Indian becomes President. Who then becomes Vice President?”
Harris is the first female, Black and Asian-American Vice President-elect. She is of Indian and Jamaican descent; her mother immigrated to the US from Chennai in the 1960s.
After the tweet sparked widespread criticism and allegations of racism, the Lord Speaker of the House of Lords, Norman Fowler, called on Kilclooney to “retract and apologise” for his “offensive” remark.
Lord Kilclooney should retract and apologise. This is an offensive way to refer to anyone, let alone a woman who has just made history. The comment is entirely unacceptable and has no place in British politics. I could not be clearer.
— Lord Speaker (@LordSpeaker) November 9, 2020
Conservative MP Simon Hoare, who chairs the Northern Ireland Affairs Select Committee, also tweeted about Kilclooney’s tweet, calling it “Bad. Rude. Racist. Appalling”. He added that he has submitted a formal complaint to the Speaker’s office.
Apart from the Speaker, Kilclooney has also been reported to the Commissioner for Standards, which is responsible for independent investigations of alleged breaches of the House of Lords Code of Conduct.
Kilclooney, known as John Taylor before receiving a life peerage, deleted the tweet after the outrage and issued an apology, but with a caveat.
“…I certainly withdraw my reference to her as an Indian as it seems to have upset some people. I did not know her name and identified her with the term Indian. Most people understood.Racist NO,” he tweeted.
Whilst Biden is proud to be Irish and Harris is rightly proud of her Indian background I certainly withdraw my reference to her as an Indian as it seems to have upset some people. I did not know her name and identified her with the term Indian. Most people understood.Racist NO.
— Lord John Kilclooney (@KilclooneyJohn) November 9, 2020
Far from the first instance
Several members of the UK Parliament urged strict action against Lord Kilclooney, pointing to his previous references to former Irish prime minister Leo Varadkar, who is also of Indian descent.
“He did it before to Leo Varadkar and now he’s done it to Kamala Harris. This sort of racism would be unacceptable from anyone, but from a member of the House of Lords it beggars belief,” said Labour MP West Streeting in a tweet Monday.
He did it before to Leo Varadkar and now he's done it to Kamala Harris. This sort of racism would be unacceptable from anyone, but from a member of the House of Lords it beggars belief. Action must be taken. https://t.co/2JbWFbqr9r
— Wes Streeting MP (@wesstreeting) November 9, 2020
In 2017, Kilclooney had called Varadkar, “the Indian” in a tweet, which he later retracted.
The politician had later defended the tweet saying it was “not racist” but “shorthand for an Indian surname which I could not spell”.
In 2018, he again referred to Varadkar as a “typical Indian” while commenting on a media report regarding the latter’s visit to Northern Ireland.
Five complaints were received by the House of Lords Commissioner for Standards based on his comment but no formal investigation took place.
Subscribe to our channels on YouTube & Telegram
Why news media is in crisis & How you can fix it
India needs free, fair, non-hyphenated and questioning journalism even more as it faces multiple crises.
But the news media is in a crisis of its own. There have been brutal layoffs and pay-cuts. The best of journalism is shrinking, yielding to crude prime-time spectacle.
ThePrint has the finest young reporters, columnists and editors working for it. Sustaining journalism of this quality needs smart and thinking people like you to pay for it. Whether you live in India or overseas, you can do it here.