British new Labour MP Lauren Edwards, representing Rochester and Strood, issued an apology on Thursday after offensive posts on her social media accounts from over ten years ago resurfaced on X.
Sharing a post on X she made made her statement saying: “I have recently been made aware of a small number of tweets that I posted on twitter from over a decade ago, which I now deeply regret.”
“They were a significant error of judgement on my part, and I apologise wholeheartedly.Since becoming a local councillor and more recently an MP, I have seen first-hand the importance of bringing communities together and working with tolerance and respect for all in our society,” her statement continued.
“I pledge to use my platform to continue that important work and dedicate myself to serving all residents of Rochester & Strood,” she added.
According to BBC, one of the now-deleted posts on X, previously known as Twitter from July 2009, read: “I want these f*****g Estonian retards out of my flat now!”
Another post read: “Baroness Wrenthorpe text me from Walthamstow to say he’s seen a halal Pakistani Chinese Grill place. Hope he’s not suggesting we go there.”
According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, she posted the tweets in 2009 while working as a parliamentary researcher for Barbara Keeley, the former MP for Worsley and Eccles South.
The former Conservative MP for Rochester and Strood, Kelly Tolhurst said she was “shocked and concerned by the views” held by Edwards, BBC reported.
“She had no concern airing them publicly when working for a Labour MP, only deleting them after public pressure,” Tolhurst said in a post on X.”
Edwards is one of the 11 newly elected Labour MPs in Kent on 4 July. The Labour Party has not provided any comment on the matter.