Union urged to 'get a grip' after boss posts 'deeply offensive' tweet about Priti Patel
A senior trade unionist has been suspended by Labour after saying Home Secretary Priti Patel was "disgusting" and should be deported.
Unite's assistant general secretary Howard Beckett – who is standing for the leadership of the union – apologised for his comments but has been suspended by the party.
Black Country MP John Spellar said the "deeply offensive" tweet was the latest in a series of issues that Unite bosses had failed to "get a grip" of.
Mr Beckett, who sits on Labour's ruling national executive committee, faced calls to be sacked after the union lost a £1.3m legal battle with former Labour MP Anna Turley over a blog post.
Questions have also been raised over soaring costs of the union's £98 million hotel and conference centre in Birmingham.
Mr Beckett made the remarks about the Home Secretary following protests in Glasgow over the detention of two men by Border Force officials.
Police Scotland released the Indian nationals after people surrounded the immigration enforcement van and prevented it from leaving on Thursday.
Mr Beckett originally said: "Priti Patel should be deported, not refugees. She can go along with anyone else who supports institutional racism.
"She is disgusting."
He later deleted the tweet and said: "Priti Patel message on Eid al Fitr is to deport Muslim refugees. Those who have been forced to flee war zones.
"We are seeing appalling institutional racism again and again from the supposed pillars of the British elite.
"Our society should have no place for racism, at all.
"I'm very sorry for my earlier tweet. I was angry to see Muslim Refugees being deported on the morning of Eid al Fitr."
Mr Beckett said his earlier message was "never intended to be literal" and "the wording was wrong" and "offensive".
"I apologise unreservedly to Priti Patel. No one should be deported," he added.
It is understood neither of the men involved in the situation in Glasgow is Muslim.
A Labour spokesman said the party "takes these allegations extremely seriously" and promised appropriate action.
Mr Spellar, the Labour MP for Warley, criticised Unite over the legal case with Ms Turley, saying it would end up costing "well over £2m of members money on a case that could have been settled for a few thousand pounds and an apology".
He added: "The Unite executive allowed that to go on, they allowed the £98m blowout on the Birmingham hotel, and now we have the person who has been involved in both of these things, Howard Beckett, putting out a deeply offensive tweet which has led to even those on the left expressing outrage.
"Quite frankly, the Unite executive have been ducking all these issues, and they ought to have an emergency meeting and get a grip of this."
Gurinder Singh Josan, a member of Labour’s NEC from the West Midlands, said Mr Beckett's comment was "simply dog whistle racism against a woman of colour".
Meanwhile, former Labour deputy leader and West Bromwich East MP Tom Watson said the legal battle with Ms Turley was an "appalling waste of money" and called for Mr Beckett to be sacked.
Mr Beckett is one of four candidates vying to replace Len McCluskey as Unite leader. The others are Steve Turner, who has been endorsed by the powerful United Left faction; Sharon Graham, who is said to be on the "industrial wing" of the union, and former West Midlands regional secretary Gerard Coyne, who is billed as the "change candidate" who can get the union back on track.
Mr Coyne, who was narrowly beaten by Mr McCluskey in the 2017 leadership contest, said: "Howard Beckett has been suspended by Labour. What action will the union and its executive now take?
"My view is clear: Unite needs real change. All forms of discrimination including racism are unacceptable."
