British Politician Calls Queen a Parasite on Facebook

A Labour candidate in upcoming local elections has whipped up a storm of controversy by describing Queen Elizabeth II and the monarchy in a highly derogatory fashion on Facebook. Peter White is running as a council-candidate in the East London municipality of Havering, but he apparently did not realize that what he writes on an opposing politician’s Facebook wall might not only be read by people on his “friends” list, but by a much wider and less supportive audience. According to a report in The Telegraph, White referred to Queen Elizabeth as a “parasite.” White reportedly logged onto his Facebook account, visited Conservative MP Andrew Rosindell’s Facebook profile and left a message on the politician’s wall calling into question his proposal to honour the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

In his Facebook post, White argued that the Queen “milks this country for everything she can” and that if Rosindell’s proposal of turning the Diamond Jubilee into a national holiday passes, the day off from work should “mean something, rather than celebrate vermin.”  White went further to suggest that the Queen should sell off her palaces in order to support herself, rather than live off of public funds.

According to The Telegraph, even Labour politicians and activists have called on White to issue a public explanation and an apology for referring to the Queen as a “parasite” and as “vermin,” but the local candidate at first refused to do so. He saw nothing wrong with having published his highly passionate message on an opposing politician’s Facebook wall and pointed out that there is nothing amiss with preferring republicanism over the monarchy. But the Mirror reported that White finally did issue a statement in which he “apologized unreservedly.”