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| Lindsay Hoyle and Imran Hussain |
Commons speaker Lindsay Hoyle has been forced into an embarrassing apology after referring to a Muslim Labour MP as 'Muhammad'. Unfortunately for Hoyle, the MP's name is actually Imran.
The incident occurred during a debate on Tuesday regarding 'racism in cricket' (yes, they really held a parliamentary debate after one cricketer was referred to by a racial term once in ten years). Hoyle introduced the member for Bradford East as 'Muhammad Hussain'. Imran Hussain then rose to his feet as someone is heard correcting the Speaker.
In response to Hoyle's faux pas, the subtitles on Parliament's live stream automatically generated the name 'Mohammad Yasin'. Yasin is the Labour MP for Bedford, but he was not participating in the debate.
Hoyle has since apologised: "This was an honest mistake. I called Imran as soon as I could to apologise - and he accepted". Imagine the outcry if this slip of the tongue was from the mouth of a Tory minister? There would be howls of Islamophobia and a media witch hunt lasting days, if not weeks. As it happens, Sir Lindsay was elected a Labour MP.
Click below to see his embarrassing blunder.
