MP Rupa Huq Loses Labour Whip For Calling Kwasi Kwarteng 'Superficially Black'

The Conservative Party had demanded Keir Starmer take action against the MP.
UK Parliament/Jessica Taylor via PA Media

Rupa Huq, the MP for Ealing Central and Acton, has lost the Labour Party whip after she said Kwasi Kwarteng was “superficially” black.

Keir Starmer kicked her out of the parliamentary party on Tuesday afternoon after her comments were revealed earlier in the day.

She made the remarks during a fringe event at Labour’s conference in Liverpool on Monday titled: “What’s next for Labour’s agenda on race?”

In an audio recording of the event, Huq can be heard to say of Kwarteng: “Superficially he is a black man.”

She added: “He went to Eton I think he went to a very expensive prep school... if you hear him on the Today programme you wouldn’t know he is black.”

The Conservative Party demanded Keir Starmer withdraw the party whip from Huq following the “racist comments”.

A Labour Party spokesperson told HuffPost UK that Huq’s remarks were “clearly totally inappropriate”.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated. Follow HuffPost UK on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

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