UK police investigate Tory MP after 'racist' comments against Bahraini activist

UK police have opened an investigation into allegations of racial abuse after Conservative MP Bob Stewart told a Bahraini human rights activist to "go back to Bahrain". 

The Tory parliamentarian was attending a reception hosted by the Bahraini Embassy in London last Wednesday when Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, Director of Advocacy at The Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy, approached him on the street. 

After Alwadaei asked Steward whether he had received money from "the Bahraini regime," the MP replied: "Go away, I hate you. You make a lot of fuss. Go back to Bahrain."

Steward later denied receiving money from Bahrain and called Alwadaei a "stupid man". 

The incident was caught on video and will be investigated by London’s Metropolitan Police. 

The Tory MP has apologised for his comments, insisting that he was "not being racist in any way," according to the BBC. 

Stewart tried to clarify his remarks by saying: "My comments were meant to tell them they could protest safely in Bahrain." 

Alwadaei fled Bahrain in 2011 after being arrested and tortured for taking part in anti-government protests and was able to claim political asylum in the UK in 2012. 

"Mr Stewart would have been well aware that I was stripped of my citizenship and rendered stateless by the Bahraini regime in a blatant violation of international law," wrote Alwadaei on twitter. 

"The police have contacted me for an interview and I will cooperate in full with their investigation," he said. 

Stewart has been on two trips to Bahrain, paid for by the country’s government, since 2021.

This November, he visited the Gulf state’s airshow and met the foreign minister, declaring a cost of £1,245.56 for a five-day trip, reported the Guardian. 

The event at the Bahraini embassy marked the National Day of Bahrain, the anniversary of when the Gulf state gained independence from Britain.