A London headteacher on Monday called on Labour MP Jess Phillips to “do the work” to tackle her “unconscious bias” in the same way that Prince Harry did, as an extraordinary row between the two continued.
Katharine Birbalsingh, dubbed Britain’s strictest head, has accused Ms Phillips of “racist and bullying behaviour”, after the MP criticised a picture showing Tina Turner alongside her abusive husband Ike Turner that Ms Birbalsingh tweeted.
Speaking to the Standard on Monday, Ms Birbalsingh, head of Michaela Community School in Wembley, said: “I am not saying she is a rabid racist at all, I am saying she has unconscious bias towards me.
“When you say somebody is racist that sounds like she hates black people — I am not saying that. I am saying she has an unconscious bias in thinking that black people owe something to the Left and that we should vote on the Left, we should think on the Left. She is not the only one.
“There are lots of people on the Left who think like this. I am drawing attention to this problem.”
Ms Birbalsingh has written to Labour leader Keir Starmer after a string of exchanges on Twitter with Ms Phillips, the MP for Birmingham Yardley. The row began after Ms Birbalsingh posted a picture in May of the late pop star Tina Turner alongside her abusive ex-husband, Ike Turner, with the caption: “Good times.” Ms Phillips tweeted “Domestic abuse is never OK and we will defeat those who prop up the status quo.”
Ms Birbalsingh, who said it is absurd to suggest she supports domestic violence, said this prompted a deluge of abuse. None of Ms Phillips’s tweets referred to the head’s race. Ms Birbalsingh said on Monday she hopes Sir Keir responds to the letter, adding: “I don’t want anything done to Jess Philips. I just want to raise the issue.
“Harry and Meghan and others on the Left often talk about ‘doing the work’…when Harry says ‘I have done the work’ he doesn’t mean ‘I was a rabid racist.’ He means ‘I had some unconscious biases and now I have thought about it and now I think differently’.” Asked if she thinks Ms Phillips should “do the work”, Ms Birbalsingh said: “That’s right, I do.”
Shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson defended Ms Phillips, saying she is not racist. Ms Phillips tweeted she was without internet all weekend, but now “I’ll get to the rest later.”
