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Louise Thomas
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A new Labour MP has been accused of racism over a series of recently unearthed offensive tweets.
Lauren Edwards, the MP for Rochester and Strood made comments about Estonians, Parliament’s cleaners and a halal restaurant, in the now-deleted posts.
She has since apologised and said she “deeply regrets” the tweets.
In one, Ms Edwards wrote: “I want these f****** Estonian r****** out of my flat now!”
The posts date from more than a decade ago, between 2009-2011.
Ms Edwards, who worked as a parliamentary researcher for Labour MPs including Barbara Keeley, Teresa Pearce and Lisa Nandy until 2013, also tweeted: “Are the cleaners on recess too? My desk has so many coffee rings it looks like Saturn.”
Another, which appeared to respond to an account called Baroness Wrenthorpe, said: “Baroness Wrenthorpe text me from Walthamstow to say he’s seen a halal Pakistani Chinese Grill place. Hope he’s not suggesting we go there.”
On Thursday, she said she had been recently made aware of a small number of tweets she posted over a decade ago “which I now deeply regret. They were a significant error of judgement on my part, and I apologise wholeheartedly”.
She added that: “Since becoming a local councillor and more recently an MP, I have seen first hand the importance of bringing communities together and working with tolerance and respect for all in our society.”
Former SNP MP Martin Docherty-Hughes said: “As the former chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Estonia, I am deeply troubled by the racism and ableism vocalised by the Labour MP in question and would encourage them to reach out to the Estonian ambassador as well as disability groups to apologise and educate themselves on the benefits of a diverse society. On the issue of parliamentary cleaners, the new MP should walk a week in their shoes to see what it’s like to clean up after a political class, though I doubt they would last a day never mind a week”.
Ms Edwards’ predecessor, the former Tory MP Kelly Tolhurst, said she was “shocked and concerned by the views held by” Ms Edwards.
In a post on X, she added: “She had no concern airing them publicly when working for a Labour MP, only deleting them after public pressure. Holding these divisive and unpleasant views she now represents our towns and community.”
Mish Rahman, a member of Labour’s powerful ruling National Executive Committee (NEC), also criticised the tweets.
He questioned the scrutiny she had come under before she was selected, saying: “We missed these tweets on due diligence – I recall “r****d as a key search word”.
He added: “On face value it seems a bit racist”.
Ms Edwards was elected last month with 15,403 votes.
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