LONDON - A member of Britain's House of Lords was today forced to deny that he is a racist after he called Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar a 'typical Indian' on social media.
Lord Kilclooney, a former member of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) in Northern Ireland, was responding to a BBC headline on Twitter which read: 'DUP: Varadkar's visit to Northern Ireland showed 'disrespect''. Kilclooney tweeted back yesterday with the words, 'Typical Indian'.
"I am certainly no racist and in particular have an admiration for Indians. A member of the British/Indian APPG (All Party Parliamentary Group), only yesterday I had a reply from 10, Downing St asking for a relaxation of visas for Indians. My point was that the PM (Varadkar) had upset Unionists more than Irish PMs had," he later tweeted, after being accused of racism.
But many took to Twitter to condemn his words, including former Ulster Unionist leader Mike Nesbitt who said it could only be interpreted as a 'racist comment'.
Alliance Party leader Naomi Long said Lord Kilclooney was "an embarrassment".
She said his latest comment was a "slur on all Indian people with his use of the word 'typical'" and demanded that the Speaker of the House of Lords raise the matter with the peer.