Tory MP Bob Stewart Calls Coronavirus 'Foul Chinese Illness' In Facebook Post
Updated: See the latest stories on the coronavirus outbreak.
Conservative MP Bob Stewart has been accused of fuelling xenophobia after a Facebook post in which he called coronavirus a “foul Chinese illness”.
The MP for Beckenham has said it was not his intention to target Chinese people and later edited the post after a complaint from a constituent.
Anti-racism campaign group Hope Not Hate has urged politicians to be mindful of their language as they risked fuelling xenophobia and a “dangerous blame game”.
It comes after Donald Trump faced claims he was fuelling racism for repeatedly calling Covid-19 a “Chinese virus”.
The Department of Health and Social Care revealed on Sunday that the global pandemic has claimed 1,228 lives in the UK.
Stewart had written in a post on Saturday that “in truth most people who contract this foul Chinese illness seem to brush it off with a bit of a cough, a higher temperature and a headache”.
He later removed the word “Chinese” and posted an apology addressing “erroneous” and “misleading” information about “advice” about the virus.
When contacted about the specific use of the word “Chinese”, he accepted he had been contacted with complaints.
He told HuffPost UK: “My grandfather died of Spanish Flu in 1919 and I used the word Chinese Flu in respect of where the virus originated not denigrating the Chinese people.
“As a constituent emailed me and thought I was being rude about the Chinese I deleted the word ‘Chinese’ because that was not my intention.
“I was not trying to score points; simply to say where the illness seems to have originated.”
Campaigners have become increasingly worried the outbreak could lead to a spike in racism, with numerous outlets reporting attacks on Chinese people.
Matthew McGregor, campaign director for Hope Not Hate, said: “Bob Stewart’s crass comment was offensive and he should apologise.
“The use of unthinkingly crude language such as this...
