Conservative MP Bob Stewart has given up the party whip while he decides whether to appeal his conviction for a racially aggravated offence, according to a government official. Stewart, MP for Beckenham, was found guilty of racially abusing activist Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei by telling him to “go back to Bahrain”. Both Labour and Liberal Democrat MPs had called for Stewart to forfeit his whip. Stewart must now sit in parliament as an independent. Upon being notified that Stewart wished to surrender the whip until his appeal was finalised, Tory Chief Whip Simon Hart was informed.
At Westminster Magistrates’ Court, the MP was fined £600. During a hearing, the court heard that Stewart had been attending an event at the Bahraini Embassy in London when Alwadaei, director of advocacy at the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy, challenged him, alleging that he had sold himself to the Bahraini regime. In response, Stewart stated that he detested Alwadaei, claimed that he makes too much of a fuss, and told him to “go back to Bahrain”. Stewart stated that the accusation of corruption against him had been “extremely offensive”.
The BBC has sought react from the government and comment from Stewart’s office on the decision to surrender the whip.
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