Unionist peer denies racism after tweeting Irish prime minister is a "typical indian"

A senior peer and former Ulster Unionist MP has been slammed after he called Ireland’s prime minister a “typical Indian”.

Lord Kilclooney - who now sits as a crossbench peer in the upper chamber - tweeted the remark in response to a news story about Leo Varadkar’s visit to Northern Ireland, which has sparked controversy among some unionists who claimed it breached protocol.

It marks the second time the crossbencher has been subject to a storm over the way he refers to the Taoiseach, who is the Republic's first prime minister of Indian heritage.

In 2017 he was forced to withdraw a post which called Mr Varadkar “the Indian” after an outcry.

Naomi Long of the Alliance party hit out at the latest comments, blasting them as "completely unacceptable - particularly for someone who is sitting in the UK parliament".

She told the BBC's Nolan Show: "I think Lord Kilclooney is well aware of the impact that those words would have given the reaction to his previous tweet about the ethnic background of the Taoiseach.

"But I think in particular in this case there can be no wiggling out of it, there can be no excusing, it is the very definition of a racial slur.

"He took what was a negative comment, a negative trait - that of disrespect and bad manners - and he then applied it to an entire nation of people by saying 'typical Indian'.

Long said she would be urging the Speaker of the House of Lords to investigate the remark.

Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) MLA Christopher Stalford also hit out at the “ridiculous behaviour”, saying Lord Kilcooney “doesn’t speak for me”.

But the peer has refused to retract his remarks, insisting he had “an admiration for Indians” and denying any racist intent.

In a string of posts addressing critics on Twitter, Lord Kilclooney said he had been trying to draw attention to his view that Mr Varadkar - who was born in Dublin - “does not have the same understanding of North/South relations as an Irishman”.