Labour MP Neil Coyle has had his party’s whip suspended following claims he made racist remarks to a journalist in a parliamentary bar.

Henry Dyer, a journalist for the online magazine Business Insider, published an article on Thursday in which he alleged that he had discussed with Coyle the case of Labour MP Barry Gardiner, who was revealed to have received funds from an agent of the Chinese state

Dyer claimed that Coyle remarked that Gardiner had been “paid by Fu Manchu”, a cartoon villain that draws on Chinese stereotypes.

Dyer also claimed Coyle him his Chinese heritage was clear “from how you look like you’ve been giving renminbi to Barry Gardiner”.

Coyle was first elected as the MP for Bermondsey and Old Southwark in 2015, being reelected in 2019 with a majority of 16,126.

Coyle nominated Jeremy Corbyn for the Labour leadership in 2015, but later expressed regret at doing so, and backed Owen Smith in his 2016 challenge against Mr Corbyn.

Considered to be on the right of the Labour Party, he supported Jess Phillips in the 2020 Labour leadership election.