Rishi Sunak is facing calls to remove the Tory whip after backbencher Bob Stewart was found guilty of racially aggravated public order offenses.
Labor and the Liberal Democrats led calls for the prime minister to act against the “totally unacceptable” actions of a former army officer who told activists to “go back to Bahrain”.
Mr Stewart, 74, also told Saeed Ahmed al-Wadei: “You are extorting money from my country, go away!”
Beckenham MP, from south-east London, told a court he was not a racist but said his “honor was at stake” after an altercation broke out between the two parties at a rally in central London. insisted.
In an exchange on Dec. 14 last year, Mr. Alwadai exclaimed, “Bob Stewart, how much did you sell yourself to the Bahraini regime?”
Amidst the din outside the Foreign Office’s Lancaster House in Westminster, Stewart responded: Shut up, you idiot. ”
Footage played during the trial at Westminster Magistrates’ Court also showed him saying: It’s going to be a big fuss. Go back to Bahrain. ”
Chief Justice Paul Goldspring found Stewart guilty of racially aggravated breach of peace, which he had denied.
After delivering his verdict, he fined the councilor £600, with additional legal costs totaling £1,435.
Labor Party chairwoman Anneliese Dodds said: “This is yet another major scandal for the Conservative Party. This behavior is completely unacceptable from a sitting MP. Rishi Sunak and the Conservative Party must take immediate action to The whip needs to be removed.”
Liberal Democrat leader Wendy Chamberlain said: “It’s time for Mr Sunak to finally act with integrity. This should start by removing the whip from Bob Stewart immediately. If we don’t remove the whip, this kind of behavior will continue. It sends a dangerous message that is acceptable.
“Rishi Sunak has spent his first year as chancellor dogged by sordid scandals. All he can do now is finally crack down on it.”
last year, independent person Mr Stewart, who spoke in Parliament in defense of Bahrain’s government, revealed that he had received at least £10,000 worth of entertainment and travel from the country’s rulers.
He was paid to travel to this country on a number of occasions, each time costing him thousands of pounds.
According to the MP’s concession book, the Bahraini government provided the MP with flights worth £649.66, accommodation worth £428 and meals worth £167.90 for a total of £1,245.56.
Speaking in Bahrain, he said the country’s leadership had “done a very good job of changing the perception of the people” ahead of an election that was internationally condemned as fraudulent.
He also said, “As a British person, I can say this now.” [citizen]: God save the King of England, God save the King of Bahrain! ”
said Alwaday, director of the UK-based Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy and himself a political refugee from Bahrain. independent person Last year, he was overwhelmed with praise for Mr. Stewart’s administration.
“As a Bahraini who was made stateless as a revenge tactic for daring to protest the presence of a Bahraini dictator who was visiting the UK, I cannot return to my home country just because I took a stand for human rights,” he said. said.
“I am shocked to see Bob Stewart go to Bahrain at the expense of a people subjugated by a corrupt dictatorship. When opposition leaders languish in prison, the public delegitimizes a sham election. will not choose to fund legislators who become
Since 2011, the Bahraini government has banned several opposition parties. Human rights groups say they have also tightened restrictions on freedom of assembly and expression.
Mr Stewart is a member of Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee, National Security Strategy Committee and Northern Ireland Committee.
The Conservative Party has been approached for comment.