Grima resigns tourism role after suing newspapers in ‘London cockroach’ libel

Former Labour minister Joe Grima is no longer Malta delegate to the World Tourism Organisation after comments on Labour mayor Sadiq Khan drew outrage
 

Joe Grima will no longer be UNWTO delegate
Joe Grima will no longer be UNWTO delegate

Joe Grima has resigned his post as World Tourism Organisation delegate after a Facebook outburst on the election of London mayor Sadiq Khan was described as appalling by the tourism minister.

Minister Edward Zammit Lewis described as “appalling” comments by Malta’s special envoy to the World Tourism Organisation against Khan.

Joe Grima, a former Labour minister for industry, lashed out at Khan – London’s first Muslim mayor – going as far as saying that his advent would bring in “cockroaches” to London, a reference to Islamist extremists.

“The writing is on the wall. The cockroaches have invaded dear old London. Londoners thought they were buttering their bread by voting in an Islamic Mayor but with the butter they allowed in the cockroaches,” Grima wrote on Facebook.

When asked by MaltaToday, Zammit Lewis said he disagreed with Joe Grima’s comments about Sadiq Khan and that he finds them “simply appalling”.

Joe Grima has now sued MaltaToday, The Times, and Daphne Caruana Galizia, the Malta Independent columnist, for libel.

Grima took umbrage at MaltaToday's reporting, insisting that he never called Khan a cockroach but “that by voting for Khan, Londoners opened their doors to cockroaches”.

Grima has repeatedly found himself in hot water as a result of comments made on Facebook, many a time offensive and racist.

The Labour mayor beat Tory Zac Goldsmith by 1,310,143 votes to 994,614, ending eight years of Conservative control of City Hall. According to the BBC, Khan’s victory gave him the largest personal mandate of any politician in UK history.  Khan is a former Labour MP and minister: he pledged to freeze fares on the capital's transport network and build more affordable housing, but also promising to champion business and cut taxes on enterprise.