Leo: I thought ‘typical Indian’ jibe was parody

LEO Varadkar has shrugged off an apparent racial slur on Twitter by a veteran unionist politician, with the Taoiseach saying: ‘I thought it was a parody account.’

Former Ulster Unionist Party deputy leader John Taylor this week lashed out at Mr Varadkar over his visit to the North, calling him a ‘typical Indian’.

Mr Taylor, known as Lord Kilclooney, tweeted the comment under a BBC news story, and accused Mr Varadkar of ‘bad manners’ for not alerting unionist politicians to his trip across the border on Monday.

Yesterday, Opposition leaders in the Dáil condemned Mr Taylor’s remarks. Mr Varadkar replied: ‘Concerning Lord Kilclooney’s tweet, I did see it. I actually had thought that was a parody account, but seemingly it’s not. Seemingly it’s for real. That’s all I’ll say about that.’

He said his trip to the North, accompanying EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier, was intended to be ‘low-key’.

Mr Taylor, who has caused trouble in the past by referring to Mr Varadkar as ‘the Indian’, has defended his comments, saying he rejects ‘false accusations of racism’ and does not intend to withdraw the tweet.

In fact, the former Stormont cabinet minister doubled down on his statement yesterday.

Asked by a Twitter user to explain what he meant by the comment, he responded: ‘Typical of this particular half Indian – no Irish PM has previously ignored the normal courtesies of visiting the UK. He fails to understand that he constantly antagonises Unionist feelings and is damaging the improved North/South relations which resulted from the B. agreement [Good Friday].’

He further tweeted: ‘It is not racially abusive as he himself has confirmed he is half Indian. That is great and not to be dismissed as the Indians are a great race.’