British Labour Party MP Rupa Huq has been suspended by the party for reportedly making racist comments towards Kwasi Kwarteng, a British-born Ghanaian MP who was just appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer of the UK (Finance Minister).
Meanwhile, according to news.sky.com, the party has suspended Rupa Huq for referring to Kwasi Kwarteng as a “superficially” black guy.
According to the report, in an audio tape that was posted online by the Guido Fawkes website, the suspended MP allegedly called the chancellor a racist.
“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,” Rupa Huq was quoted to have said by news.sky.com.
After condemning her remarks, the Labour Party encouraged the MP to retract her remarks.
In a social media post, Rupa Huq asserted that she had personally apologized to the UK finance minister for her remarks.
“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.
“My comments were ill-judged and I wholeheartedly apologize to anyone affected,” the post she shared read.
History of Kwesi Kwarteng
On September 6, 2022, UK Prime Minister Liz Truss nominated Kwasi Kwarteng for the office of Chancellor of the Exchequer (Finance Minister), becoming him the country’s first black finance minister.
Kasi Addo Alfred Kwarteng was born in Waltham Forest, East London, in May 1975 to Ghanaian parents Alfred and Charlotte, who had both arrived in the nation ten years earlier as students.
His parents, who went on to become international economists and lawyers, respectively, enrolled him at an expensive prep school with an illustrious record of turning out Cabinet-level officials. Later, he attended the prestigious Eton institution, where important British politicians like David Cameron and Boris Johnson received their education.