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William Langley

A British former politician who supported calling Covid-19 “the Chinese virus” has been accused of hypocrisy after he protested against people referring to a new mutation of the virus as having originated in Britain.
“Can we please stop referring to new-variant Covid as ‘originating in the UK’. It was FIRST IDENTIFIED in the UK, which is an entirely different thing,” Roger Helmer said in a tweet on Monday that has been shared over 1,300 times and received more than 3,000 replies.
In June, Helmer, who served as a member of the European parliament for both the Conservative Party and the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP), retweeted a Sky News article highlighting criticism of US President Donald Trump’s use of the term “Chinese virus” in referring to Covid-19.
“So is it racist to mention ‘Chinese food’ or ‘Indian Curry’ or ‘Korean Kimchee’ or ‘German Sauerkraut’? So why not ‘Chinese virus’?” he wrote at the time.
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One of the replies to Helmer’s latest tweet, showing his comments side by side had gained half a million likes as of Thursday afternoon.
On Wednesday, Helmer wrote on Twitter that there was no evidence the new variant originated in Britain, though it was first detected there earlier this month.
As the novel coronavirus began its global spread, Beijing was upset by references to it as the “Wuhan virus” or “Chinese virus”. It has since sought to show the pathogen was already circulating around the world before being identified in the central China city in December last year.
Trump frequently referred to the coronavirus as the Chinese virus.


Helmer was a member of the European Parliament for the East Midlands from 1999 to 2017, initially representing the Conservatives before switching to UKIP in 2012.
Known for his controversial views on climate change, rape and homosexuality, he resigned as an MEP in July 2017 citing age and health concerns. He stepped down ahead of a demand to repay about £100,000 of EU money for alleged misuse of public funds, British newspaper The Guardian reported at the time.
Some Twitter users questioned whether Helmer’s views were relevant.
“Can we please stop referring to Roger Helmer as an MEP,” one said.
Helmer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.


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Diplomacy


Roger Helmer, who was a member of the European Parliament from 1999 to 2017, is known for his controversial views
People should not say new strain of pathogen originated in the UK, he says on Twitter



Roger Helmer, who was a member of the European Parliament from 1999 to 2017, is known for his controversial views.


Coronavirus China

Coronavirus UK

China-EU relations