A Conservative MP who told an activist to “go back to Bahrain” has been convicted of a racially aggravated public order offence.
Bob Stewart, a former British Army officer who served with distinction in Northern Ireland and the Balkans, told Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, “You’re taking money off my country, go away” after he was ambushed by the activist outside a Foreign Office building, Lancaster House in Westminster.
Mr. Alwadaei was an activist with the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy and they filed a complaint with the Metropolitan Police, which led to Mr. Stewart, 74, being charged.
On Friday the MP faced trial at Westminster Magistrates’ Court and was convicted by Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring, fined £600 and ordered to pay £835 in legal costs.
Mr Goldspring said of Mr. Stewart: “I accept he is not racist per se, but that is not the case against him ... Good men can do bad things.”
On Dec. 14, 2022 Mr. Stewart had just left an event hosted by the Bahraini Embassy when Mr. Alwadaei, a human rights campaigner, approached him and shouted, “Bob Stewart, for how much did you sell yourself to the Bahraini regime?”
In an exchange which was filmed by activists and went viral on social media, Mr. Stewart replied: “Go away, I hate you. You make a lot of fuss. Go back to Bahrain ... Now shut up, you stupid man.”
‘Demonstrated Racial Hostility’
Mr. Jarvis said Mr. Stewart, “demonstrated racial hostility towards Mr Alwadaei by way of his comments” but he accepted the MP, “was not motivated by racial hostility.”Giving evidence on Friday, Mr. Stewart said he was hurt by any suggestion his comments were racially motivated.
He said, “That’s absurd, it’s totally unfair, my life has been, I don’t want to say destroyed, but I am deeply hurt at having to appear in a court like this ... I am not a racist.”
Mr. Stewart, who was stationed in Bahrain with the Army in 1969, said he remained fond of the country and he said: “I’ve spent my whole life in a way defending minorities and people of different colours.”
Mr. Stewart, the MP for Beckenham in Kent, then explained why he lost his temper and reacted so angrily to Mr. Alwadaei.
“He was saying that I was corrupt and that I had taken money. My honour was at stake in front of a large number of ambassadors. It upset me and I thought it was extremely offensive,” said the MP.
Asked to explain the meaning of what he had said, Mr. Stewart said: “‘Go back to Bahrain’ meant why don’t you go back to Bahrain and make your point there.”
‘There is no Right to Confront an MP’
Paul Cavin, KC, defending Mr. Stewart, said, “There is no right to confront an MP in public and expect answers in a measured House of Commons way.”He said, “Any hostility was based on the complainant’s behaviour, conduct and speech towards the defendant.”
Mr. Alwadaei—who claims he was tortured in Bahrain and is living in exile in Britain—said he was exercising his right to protest and had not intended to insult Mr. Stewart.
Mr. Alwadaei said if he returned to Bahrain he would, “undoubtedly be killed and tortured.”
The court heard he accused Mr. Stewart of being financed by Bahrain and being a “well-known defender” of the government there.
Mr. Alwadaei claimed Mr. Stewart had chanted, “God save the king of Bahrain” during a trip to the Middle Eastern country.
Parliamentary records show Mr. Stewart registered flights, accommodation and meals worth £5,349 during a four-day trip to Bahrain in November 2022 paid for by the country’s ministry of foreign affairs.
A separate entry for £1,245.56 covered by the Bahraini government shows another trip to visit an air show and meet the country’s foreign minister.
Giving character evidence, Baroness Elizabeth Butler-Sloss, 90, said Mr. Stewart had a “flippant” manner and added: “He is given to saying things that are unwise but his heart is absolutely in the right place.”
After the court case, the Liberal Democrats’ chief whip Wendy Chamberlain called for Mr. Stewart to lose the whip.
Ms. Chamberlain said: “It’s time Sunak finally acted with integrity. This should start with immediately removing the whip from Bob Stewart. Failing to remove the whip sends a dangerous message that behaviour like this is acceptable.”
