Labour MP sorry after suspension for 'Fu Manchu' race rant at journalist in Commons bar

11 February 2022, 13:04 | Updated: 11 February 2022, 17:26

A Labour MP who was suspended following allegations he racially ranted at a British-Chinese journalist has apologised, saying he is "devastated".

Neil Coyle, MP for Bermondsey & Old Southwark, had the whip suspended over claims he made a string of insulting remarks to a journalist in a House of Commons bar.

Henry Dyer, a political journalist for Insider, has said Mr Coyle joked about 'Fu Manchu' and made disparaging remarks about his heritage during a conversation in Strangers' Bar at Parliament on February 1.

He is also alleged to have berated a Labour aide about Brexit in a foul-mouthed tirade at the same venue the previous evening - and has been banned from the Commons bars for six months.

In a statement on Friday evening, he said: "I am truly sorry for my insensitive behaviour last week which has led to me having the Labour whip suspended.

"I've apologised to everyone involved and will continue to do so.

"I'm devastated to be in this situation through my own fault and will comply with the investigation and take every step necessary to improve myself.

"I hope to re-prove my Labour values and have the whip restored in due course."

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 A Labour spokesman said: "The Labour Party expects the highest standards of behaviour from all our MPs and we take allegations of this sort very seriously.

"Accordingly the Chief Whip has now suspended the Labour whip from Neil Coyle pending an investigation."

Mr Dyer, who is British-Chinese, said he came into contact with Mr Coyle in Strangers' Bar on the evening of Tuesday February 1, after going for Chinese New Year dinner with his family.

He accused the MP of making Sinophobic remarks, which he said made him feel uncomfortable.

Mr Dyer said that Mr Coyle came to speak to him and a group of other journalists on the Tuesday, and the conversation turned to fellow Labour MP Barry Gardiner, after he it emerged he had unwittingly received funding from a Chinese spy.

Mr Coyle allegedly said Mr Gardiner had been in the pay of 'Fu Manchu'.

'We've all done it'

Mr Dyer said the comment struck him "at the time as not right" given it had been well reported who had given Mr Gardiner the money.

He added: "There was no need to refer to a 20th Century trope of a Chinese supervillain."

In an account posted online, the journalist said that when he "gently pushed back" against the term, Mr Coyle suggested he was being "over-sensitive", before saying "he would apologise if he had said something bad and it wasn't just me being sensitive, which I believe was insincere.

"He then said that he had relatives of Chinese descent."

Mr Dyer told Mr Coyle he is of British-Chinese heritage.

Coyle responded that he could tell: "from how you look like you've been giving renminbi [the Chinese currency] to Barry Gardiner."

Mr Dyer claimed he had also witnessed Mr Coyle "angrily shouting at a Labour staffer" in the bar the previous evening.

In the January 31 incident, Mr Coyle was accused of yelling "f**k you" at a Labour aide who insisted that Brexit had worked out "fine" for the UK.

When a Tory MP tried to intervene to calm the row, Mr Coyle allegedly replied: "F**k off and lose some weight."

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The row occurred on the first day of the reopening of Strangers' – Westminster's famous Thames-side watering hole – for MPs and staffers since being closed due to Covid-19.

Witnesses said the MP began shouting after the aide, who works for another Labour MP, suggested that Brexit had not been a disaster for Britain.

The aide is said to have added that Labour could have been spared its disastrous 2019 General Election if only it had taken a different position on Brexit.

Mr Coyle then allegedly shouted: "F**k you! What are the benefits of Brexit?"

He was also said to have yelled: "Are you f**king insane?"

The backbench Tory MP then attempted to defuse the row, resulting in the jibe about his weight.