Graffiti painted onto NIHE van being treated as racist hate crime
'Disgusting xenophobic slurs'
Doherty said: "This vile act does not reflect the people of this community. A community built on respect, diversity and solidarity. No family should have to walk past that kind of hatred - but sadly many have, and it has deeply impacted them.""Those responsible should be ashamed. We stand united against racism in all its forms," he added.The MP for the area, Paul Maskey, described the graffiti as "disgusting xenophobic slurs, designed to spread fear and hatred"."Those involved do not speak for the vast majority of west Belfast. Andersonstown is a welcoming community — one which I am proud to be part of and represent."Our resolve is steadfast. Racism will not win."The graffiti displays the letters R.A.A.BBC News NI understands that this stands for Republicans Against Antifa who have been previously described as a "fringe fascist group" by the west Belfast assembly member Gerry Carroll after threatening graffiti appeared about him in March 2025.Monday's graffiti also includes a word which is derogatory to those who are not white.Sgt McCrum from the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said: "There is no place in our society for this type of intimidating behaviour and we will continue to engage with local representatives and partner agencies around community safety."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
31 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Lady Gabriella Windsor's ex reignites claims of racism within the Royal Family as he again insists her mother owned black sheep named Venus and Serena and even drags in the KING - ahead of his new book that will alarm the Palace
The former boyfriend of Lady Gabriella Windsor has doubled down on his claims of racism within the Royal Family in a new interview, as he prepares to publish a novel inspired by his relationship with the King's cousin. Speaking on the podcast Tell Me About Your Father, Aatish Taseer, who was born in the UK and raised in India, recalled how he sparked a media storm in 2018 when he wrote an explosive article for Vanity Fair in which he claimed to lay bare intimate details of their relationship. He admitted that he was 'extremely indiscreet' and said that in England there is 'really no crime you can commit greater than that' especially after remaining 'very, very cozy' with Princess Michael after splitting from her daughter. Taseer, who is now married to a man, even described the wife of the late Queen's cousin as 'a gay icon', with the podcast host retorting: 'If she wasn't so racist, she'd be really marketable.' He also repeated the claim that the late polo pal of King Charles, Kuldip Singh Dhillon was referred to as 'Sooty'. Mr Singh, who died in 2023, previously insisted he 'enjoyed' the nickname. Meanwhile, Taseer doubled down on one of his most sensational claims, that Gabriella's mother, Princess Michael, once owned two black sheep at her former Gloucestershire home, which she named Venus and Serena after the tennis-playing Williams sisters. The interview comes amid Taseer's plans to release a novel he claims was inspired by his time with the Royal Family called In Their Country, about an aspiring journalist from New Delhi named Aleramo Singh Brusetti who is dating a member of the British Royal Family named 'Rose' who was brought up at Kensington Palace by her parents 'Prince and Princess Albert'. Although it is a work of fiction, an extract published by Air Mail weaves in real names and comments about royals such as Princess Margaret and Princess Diana and places including Kensington Palace and the restaurant Maggie Jones. In further chapters of the as yet unpublished work, seen by the Mail, the main character refers to a sexual frisson with his girlfriend's brother and her needing a HIV test after he has sex with a man. While the book is a work of fiction, it also weaves in quotes attributed to Princess Michael of Kent in the 2018 Vanity Fair article. It also includes incidents that have been reported publicly such as her alleged remarks to a group of black diners in a New York restaurant to: 'Go back to the colonies'. Despite this, Taseer said that he remained close to Princess Michael after his relationship with Lady Gabriella ended. He told the podcast: 'After Ella and I broke up, it was one of those relationships that was purely romantic and it didn't have a kind of friendship component. But I I was very, very close to Ella's mother to Princess Michael and who I always think of as a kind of gay icon. 'I would see her from time to time after Ella and I broke up, she came to my first book launch and I would go and see her in England. 'Also, I think once I came out and was married to a one of those situations where it must have felt like a betrayal of our time together.' Elsewhere on the podcast, he discussed his claim regarding the names of Princess Michael's sheep. 'The English, it's wild like that because the upper classes are so, they live at such a tremendous remove from the country,' he said. 'They really don't even know that like, I mean, [King] Charles has a friend called Sooty. Yeah. Like just a close friend. 'So I think the Venus and Serena was just, it was just part of that, that kind of weird air of abstraction that exists around these people and how they're not even aware of how shocking or offensive that might be.' The daughter of Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, affectionately known as Ella, 44, lost her husband Thomas Kingston, 45, in devastating circumstances in February 2024 after he was found dead with a 'traumatic head wound' and a gun near his body in an outbuilding of his parents' Cotswolds home. 'Tom was an exceptional man who lit up the lives of all who knew him,' she said in a joint family statement at the time. 'His death has come as a great shock to the whole family.' In the subsequent months, Gabriella was supported by her royal relatives as she mourned her husband. She arrived for Royal Ascot side-by-side with Princess Anne and revealed how the 'kind' Princess of Wales invited her to advise on the Together at Christmas carol service at Westminster Abbey, where she was photographed with Carole and Michael Middleton. The personal tragedy no doubt put into context the media storm created by former boyfriend Taseer, a British journalist now based in the US, when he wrote an explosive article for Vanity Fair in 2018, where he claimed to lay bare intimate details of their relationship. 'For three surreal years, Ella and I hung about Kensington Palace; we swam naked in the Queen's pool at Buckingham Palace; we did MDMA in Windsor Castle; and we had scrapes with the British press,' he wrote. No further details of the alleged incidents were given. In the wide-reaching piece, Taseer also touched upon the issue of alleged racism within the Royal Family, drawing a link between the royals and Nazis, alleging: 'Royals and Nazis go together like blini and caviar'. Among the most sensational claims was that Gabriella's mother once owned two black sheep, which she named Venus and Serena after the tennis-playing Williams sisters. The timing of the article was significant: it was published weeks before the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, which was attended by the Kents and Serena Williams – a close friend of Meghan. Senior courtiers were said to have been left reeling by the article, which was published in the US magazine but available in the UK, although there was no official comment from Buckingham Palace. Once again, those closest to Gabriella were quick to rally. Members of her inner-circle insisted that the story was full of fabrications and nothing more than an attention-seeking ploy by an ex-boyfriend. A source close to the Royal Family said at the time: 'What he has done is appalling and unnecessarily cruel, especially when he has only ever been shown kindness by her family.' A friend added: 'Aatish is a novelist. He has an active imagination.' The couple were introduced by mutual friends in 2003 while Taseer was studying at Amherst College, Massachusetts, two hours from Brown University where Ella was studying comparative literature. Highly intelligent, Ella is also a graduate of Oxford University, where she obtained an MPhil degree in Social Anthropology from Linacre College. Their courtship was passionate and public – the couple were often spotted in clinches and made it on to Tatler's 'most invited' list two years running. At one point they were tipped to marry. Taseer travelled with the Kents – revealing how 'to fly with the royalty was to fly with Easyjet' – and spent time at the family's five-bedroom apartment at Kensington Palace, which left him cold. 'The warren of dark-brick apartments and offices that greeted me resembled something between a military hospital and an old people's home,' he wrote. 'All the famous inhabitants - Princess Margaret, Princess Diana - were dead, and those who remained, minor royals and palace secretaries, lived in their long cold shadow.' (This was years before the Prince and Princess of Wales arrived to 'liven it up', as he put it.) Princess Michael of Kent, known as 'Princess Pushy', was reportedly impressed by her daughter's beau, once describing him as 'one of the most handsome men I have ever met'. But Taseer's opinion of his would-be mother-in-law was rather more conflicted. Of her denials of racism, he wrote: 'I would have liked to believe her, but I had my and Nazis go together like blini and above a certain age in Britain is at least a tiny bit racist.' He added that he did, however, see a 'nice side' to Princess Michael, describing her as 'funny, intelligent and generous'. Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Michael of Kent watch the racing on Derby day at the Investec Derby Festival at Epsom Racecourse on June 7, 2014 Before the relationship fizzled out in 2006, the Kents reportedly travelled to Bombay to meet Taseer's mother. She arranged lavish dinners and fireworks for Princess Michael on her birthday. Taseer is now a writer-at-large for T, The New York Times Style Magazine, and is married to lawyer Ryan Davis, whom he wed in August 2015. He was stripped of his overseas citizenship of India status in 2019 after he wrote an article criticising the regime of the country's prime minister, Narendra Modi. Meanwhile, Princess Michael once allegedly told black diners to 'go back to the colonies' and claimed not to know her father was an SS officer. In 2004 she was branded a racist by a group in a New York restaurant after a row erupted over the noise she claimed they were making. The royal was accused of slamming her hand down on the group's table, telling them: 'You need to quiet down.' Restaurant boss Silvano Marchetto offered to move Princess Michael and her party to another room. Before switching tables the royal is alleged to have said 'you need to go back to the colonies'. The princess was reportedly challenged at the time and was said to have replied: 'I did not say "back to the colonies", I said you "should remember the colonies". Back in the days of the colonies there were rules that were very good.' She is alleged to have continued: 'You think about it. Just think about it.' One of the group, Wall Street banker Merv Matheson, said: 'She has a problem and that problem is racism. She needs help.' AJ Callaway was also caught up in the alleged row and was surprised to find out she was a member of the Royal family. 'I thought she was just a crazy woman. I still think she's a crazy woman,' he said at the time. A spokesman denied that the princess made the slur, which reportedly arose from a confrontation about the group making too much noise in the Da Silvano restaurant. In 2014 it was revealed her father, Baron Gunther von Reibnitz, was a high-ranking SS officer, which the Princess Michael claimed was shocking news to her. He joined the Nazi party in 1930 but would escape to Bavaria in 1945 when it was occupied by the Americans. Princess Michael was born Marie-Christine von Reibnitz during the final months of World War Two. Historian Philip Hall unearthed the baron's Nazi link at the Berlin Document Centre, where evidence showed he had joined the SS three years before Hitler became chancellor. He also found references to Baron Gunther von Reibnitz being recommended for an appointment by Herman Goering and he is believed to have fought on the Polish front. After the war's end, the baron split from his family. The children and their mother headed to Sydney, Australia, and he settled in Mozambique, where he ran a citrus farm. The Czech princess joined the British Royal Family when she married Prince Michael of Kent in Vienna in 1978 and would later claim her union with the Silesian was an arranged marriage. She famously accused the British of racism in the 1980s when she said in an interview: 'The English distrust foreigners. I will never become British even if I live here the rest of my life.' She was branded Princess Pushy until 2013, when she was described as Princess Cushy for whinging about the rent she paid to Kensington Palace. Before 2010 she was paying just £69 a week in peppercorn rent, but would go on to pay £120,000 a year to stay at the palace, which has ten main rooms. The new rent rate was imposed when the late Queen was forced to restructure her grace-and-favour residences to bring rents into line with present-day market values. She also courted controversy when she told Tatler magazine she knew 'the real story' about Princess Diana following her death in 1997.
BBC News
2 hours ago
- BBC News
Julian Smith says David Cameron was 'cavalier' in handling of Brexit
Former Northern Ireland Secretary Julian Smith has accused ex-Prime Minister David Cameron of treating the 2016 Brexit referendum as "some sort of Eton game".Smith was the government's chief whip from 2016 until 2019 under Theresa May's premiership, which was fraught with tension over how the UK should leave the Tory MP was highly critical of Lord Cameron, who made the decision to hold the referendum after pressure from Eurosceptics, saying he had been "extremely cavalier"."There should have been a proposition which outlined how both answers would be addressed," he said. 'Some sort of Eton game' "I joined the Conservative Party because of David Cameron, because he was dynamic... but looking back on it, it was unforgiveable that this fundamental question was put to the British people when you have a whole range of issues, not least the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland," he told the BBC's Red Lines podcast."It was put to the British people as if it was some sort of Eton game." Brexit referendum in 2016 Lord Cameron is among a number of former British politicians who were educated privately at Eton College in a majority voted to leave the EU, Lord Cameron resigned as prime in 2016, after leaving office, he defended his decision to call the referendum. "I believe and still believe that the fact that we hadn't had a referendum on this issue for 40 years, despite the fact that the European Union was changing ... was actually beginning to poison British politics - it was certainly poisoning politics in my own party. "And I think, more broadly, people felt 'well, we have been promised referendums and they haven't been delivered' and people were beginning to feel very frustrated about this issue." When Lord Cameron quit as prime minister others in the Conservative Party were left to handle the Brexit was part of that government under Theresa May, which struggled to get agreement on how it should be done. 'Pretty disastrous' The former cabinet minister said issues such as how to maintain an open border between Northern Ireland, which is part of the UK and therefore would leave the EU, and the Republic of Ireland, which remains in the EU, should have been foreseen during the campaign."Instead the UK was led into years of contemplating an answer to that question."As time went on moderates turned into purists on either side, it was a pretty disastrous period." After Theresa May resigned as prime minister due to an inability to pass Brexit legislation, Boris Johnson took over and appointed Smith as Northern Ireland Secretary in July was a key player in getting devolution at Stormont restored the following January, after three years of deadlock, but he was sacked from the job a month later due to disagreements with said he "loved" the job, but was not surprised to lose it given he had been an ardent supporter of Theresa remained an observer of Northern Ireland issues after moving to the Commons' backbenches, and called on the Stormont Executive to take "tough decisions" on public services. Border poll Asked about the potential for a border poll, Smith said he did not think the conditions were "right" for one."Look at all the other things that need to be done."Don't let politicians in Northern Ireland off the hook on dealing with social mobility, dealing with the health service, revenue raising - this constitutional discussion is basically an excuse for not dealing with these priority issues," he added."I cannot in any world see a border poll with interest from Ireland, acceptance from the UK... I just don't see that happening at the current time so we're better focusing on making people's lives better."You can listen to Smith's interview on Red Lines on BBC Sounds from 06:00 BST.
The Independent
3 hours ago
- The Independent
Masterchef host says he found out about sacking from reading media reports
John Torode stated he learned of his "sacking" from media reports and maintains he has no recollection of the alleged incident. The celebrity chef, 59, said he had not heard from the BBC or the production company Banijay UK. BBC Director-General Tim Davie condemned the "serious racist term" and affirmed the BBC's commitment to upholding its values. The allegation was substantiated by an independent investigation conducted by law firm Lewis Silkin, commissioned by production company Banijay UK. Both the BBC and Banijay UK have stated they will not tolerate racist language and are firm on the decision not to renew Torode's contract.
