'Unacceptable': Scottish Labour MP panned for 'conspiratorial' Covid-19 claim
Gordon McKee, MP for Glasgow South, has been urged to apologise over a video posted across social media platforms on Monday which attempted to explain Britain's debt using custard cream biscuits as props.
In the video, McKee said: "Then some guy eats a bat in Wuhan. Now nobody can go to work. So the Government has to borrow even more money."
McKee was referring to the theory that the coronavirus pandemic spread to humans after an individual ate a bat at the Huanan wet market in Wuhan, China.
READ MORE: Nigel Farage: Alleged racist comments not made in 'hurtful or insulting way'
The statement has been branded Sinophobic – meaning it expresses anti-Chinese sentiment – as it perpetuates stereotypes about Chinese food culture.
A study by the World Health Organisation (WHO) was unable to conclude whether bats were the cause of Covid-19, but found there was no evidence of animals infected with the virus at the Huanan wet market.
While bats were linked as a potential transmitter of Covid-19, scientists tested more than 80,000 wildlife samples from across China and did not find any positive results.
A number of early cases – but not all – were linked to the Huanan wet market, but the WHO said "no firm conclusion" about the role of the market "in the origin of the outbreak, or how the infection was introduced into the market" could be drawn.
Meanwhile, a study conducted by scientists at Oxford University, China West Normal University and the Hubei University of Traditional Chinese Medicine found that bats were not being sold at the Huanan wet market in the 30 months before the first case of Covid-19 was detected in December 2019.
The theory was spread on social media after videos showing people eating "bat soup" were incorrectly attributed to Wuhan or China.
Many of the videos which were circulating were in fact found to be filmed either in the Pacific nation of Palau or in Indonesia.
Figures from the Metropolitan Police in London show that hate crimes against east and south-east Asians rose during the pandemic, with police chiefs warning that the far right was using coronavirus as a reason to attack these communities.
End the Virus of Racism – a group of east and south-east Asian academics and human rights advocates based in Britain – said it had received numerous reports of children being bullied at school for eating "bat soup and spreading coronavirus".
At the time of writing, McKee's video has more than three million impressions on Twitter/X alone.
A screenshot of the video posted by Scottish Labour MP Gordon McKee (Image: @GordonMcKeeMP, via Twitter/X)
Your Party councillor Leòdhas Massie – who represents the Newlands/Auldburn ward at Glasgow City Council, which is in McKee's constituency – accused the Labour MP of making an "anti-Chinese" remark and spreading "conspiratorial misinformation".
Massie said: “It’s a pretty damning example of where the Labour Party are right now that one of their MPs can’t even get through a bland explanation of national debt without making an anti-Chinese remark.
READ MORE: Ellie Gomersall: The Budget is here, unlike the change Labour promised
“Sinophobia is unacceptable. The thousands of Chinese people living in Glasgow will be horrified to see this conspiratorial misinformation, and me and my Your Party colleagues will continue to offer them support."
Massie added: “Glasgow South deserves better than this language – that wouldn’t even be at home in Nigel Farage’s Reform Party. But clearly, the Prime Minister is more bothered about keeping his own job in Number 10 than rooting out the bigotry among his own ranks.”
The Scottish Greens also condemned McKee, accusing the Scottish Labour MP of parroting "small-minded prejudice and misinformation".
Maggie Chapman MSP said: "These comments are ignorant, bigoted, and most unwelcome. They’re more like something out of a badly dated comedy show or a far-right message board than the kind of thing you would expect from a sitting Labour MP.
Scottish Greens MSP Maggie Chapman (Image: Christian Gamauf)
“I urge Gordon McKee to reflect on how these words will be felt by his Chinese constituents and others who are on the receiving end of this kind of small-minded prejudice and misinformation.
"He should apologise and remove the video from all social media platforms."
READ MORE: Protesters pledge weekly disruption at Glasgow school over mums' English classes
An SNP spokesperson said: “Crumbling old biscuits are a perfect analogy for Broken, Brexit Britain and we’d like to thank Gordon McKee for helping demonstrate the urgent need for Scottish independence.”
McKee was elected as the Scottish Labour MP for Glasgow South at the General Election last year.
The National previously told how McKee defended his party's proposed cuts to welfare , saying he was "proud" of plans which would make it harder for disabled people to access benefits.
In July, he was also found to be part of a group of parliamentarians who accepted donations from an Israeli state-owned arms firm.
At the time of publication, the video remains on social media.
McKee declined to comment.
