UK peer ‘should be ashamed’ for calling Kamala Harris ‘the Indian’, says former top Biden official

Lord Kilclooney has been told to apologise for his ‘appalling’ tweet

The British peer who referred to US vice president-elect Kamala Harris as “the Indian” has been condemned by Joe Biden’s former special adviser.

Jon Wolfsthal, a former special adviser to the president-elect, said Lord Kilclooney “should be ashamed” of his racially-charged remark – reminding the life peer that Ms Harris “is American”.

It comes as the Speaker of the House of Lords, Norman Fowler, demanded the peer apologise for tweeting: “What happens if Biden moves on and the Indian becomes President.”

The Speaker said: “Lord Kilclooney should retract and apologise. This is an offensive way to refer to anyone, let alone a woman who has just made history. The comment is entirely unacceptable and has no place in British politics.”

The former deputy leader of Northern Ireland’s Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) has now deleted his tweet and said he withdrew “my reference to her as an Indian” – but stopped short of offering any apology.  

Lord Kilclooney denied it was racist and sought to defend himself by claiming he simply did not know Ms Harris’ name. “She is totally new to me. Now I know it is Harris. Biden is proud to be Irish and Harris to be Indian. Both have every right to do so,” the peer said.  

The peer also tweeted: “Indians are amongst the most reliable people. I have two as tenants so I have the experience.”

He later stated: “I’m very fond of India myself, I’m a member of the British India all-party group, I have two Indians (tenants) in my flats here in London and there’s nothing racist in it whatsoever.”

Baroness Smith, Labour’s leader in the House of Lords, said she would report Lord Kilclooney to the parliamentary authorities over his remarks. Conservative MP Simon Hoare, chairs of the Northern Ireland affairs select committee, also submitted a formal complaint.

Mr Hoare described Lord Kilclooney original tweet as: “Bad. Rude. Racist. Appalling.”

Labour’s shadow minister for schools Wes Streeting also said “action must be taken”, adding: “This sort of racism would be unacceptable from anyone, but from a member of the House of Lords it beggars belief.”

In 2018, Lord Kilclooney made headlines when he called then-Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, who has an Indian father, a “typical Indian”.  

That came after he called Mr Varadkar “the Indian” in another tweet, and also questioned the inclusion of Moeen Ali, born and raised in England, in the country’s national cricket team.