Huq regains whip following suspension for calling Kwarteng “superficially” Black

Rupa Huq has had the Labour whip restored following her suspension from the party after she described then Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng as “superficially” Black during a Labour conference fringe event.

Commenting following her reinstatement, the MP for Ealing Central and Acton said: “During my suspension I have reflected on the offence caused by my remarks at last year’s Labour Party conference, and I want to offer, once again, my sincere apologies to everyone affected.

“As I promised at the time, I have undertaken and completed anti-racism and bias training. I want to make clear that I accept fully the conclusion of the party’s inquiry and the sanction it has imposed.”

Huq – who sat as an independent MP during her suspension – told a fringe event last September: “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.”

Reacting at the time, Keir Starmer said: “What she said, in my view, was racist. It was wrong, and she’s been suspended from the whip in the party, and that was done very, very quickly. I think that tells you how strongly I feel about those comments.”

Huq said in a tweet following her suspension that she had contacted Kwarteng to offer her “sincere and heartfelt apologies for the comments”. She added: “My comments were ill-judged, and I wholeheartedly apologise to anyone affected.”

Commenting on Huq’s remarks, Labour’s national campaign coordinator Shabana Mahmood told Times Radio that they were “bang out of order” and “completely disgraceful and unacceptable”. She told listeners that the party had “acted completely appropriately in line with our processes” in suspending the whip.

“I don’t think it’s acceptable to look at somebody and just because they’re Black assume that they have a certain set of political positions and if they don’t have those political positions, that somehow means they’re not Black enough or in my case that I wouldn’t be Asian enough,” Mahmood said.