Rappers slam Rory Stewart and accuse him of racism after he described them as ‘minor gangsters’ on electioneering walkabout in London
- Rory Stewart met the trio in Brick Lane during his campaign for Tory leadership
- On Wednesday, Stewart described the three Irish musicians as ‘minor gangsters’
- ‘I am very sorry towards the guys’, Mr Stewart tweeted on Friday, ‘I was wrong’
Rory Stewart was forced to apologise on Friday after he described three men in east London as ‘minor gangsters’
Rory Stewart was forced to apologise on Friday after he described three men in east London as ‘minor gangsters’.
The former Tory, who is standing for mayor of London, met the trio in Brick Lane during his campaign to be leader of the Conservatives in the summer.
One of the men said ‘I don’t f*** with politics man’ after he told them he was a politician. The trio then quickly left while making gestures at the camera.
Mr Stewart admitted himself ‘you can’t win ’em all’ when he posted the message.
In an event at the Emmanuel Centre in central London on Wednesday, he said social media had enabled him to show that politicians are listening during the leadership election.
He said: ‘One thing about social media is that it allows people to see politicians listening… I can go to Brick Lane and three sort of minor gangsters can come up to me and spend a minute telling me I’m an idiot.
‘And I can film it on my phone and put it up. And people love watching people being rude to politicians.’
Yesterday the ‘minor gangsters’ revealed themselves to be Irish musicians and called him a racist.
The former Tory, who is standing for mayor of London, met the trio in Brick Lane during his campaign to be leader of the Conservatives in the summer (pictured)
Speaking to The Guardian, the men – members of the rap group Hare Squead – expressed their fury at being wrongly labelled by Mr Stewart.
They accused the former Cabinet minister of ‘trying to take advantage of black boys when it’s convenient, then ridiculing them’.
Lilo Blues, one of the musicians, said: ‘It’s just another example of another weirdo white man trying to take advantage of black boys when it’s convenient, then ridiculing them.
‘That guy needs to apologise. He wants to seem like the people’s man, mixing with people from diverse backgrounds, but he’s chasing clout and now he’s trying to chat s*** about us.
‘I’m not letting this guy tarnish our name, especially given the positive message we try to push in our music.
On Friday, he took to Twitter to apologise for his comments, writing: ‘I am very sorry towards the guys and towards everyone else. I was wrong’
‘I’m not a gangster, I’m not pretending to be and I’m not going to let some corny, goofy-looking man say I am. We’re all about peace and love, and he calls us gangsters.’
Mr Stewart tweeted: ‘I am very sorry towards the guys and towards everyone else. I was wrong.’
He added: ‘I hope anyone who has watched the video will understand I was describing a light-hearted encounter in which some men were – completely understandably – gently mocking me.
‘I was trying to describe the incident to an audience that hadn’t seen the video.’