Hawzah News Agency - (London - UK) - The top Scottish member of the British parliament has denounced the main candidate seeking to become the country’s next prime minister, saying he is a “racist” who cannot be trusted to lead the United Kingdom.

Ian Blackford said during a Wednesday debate of the House of Commons that Johnson, who is leading the Conservative Party leadership race by a large margin, had a well-known record of insulting communities in the UK.

“Does the prime minister realize, not only is the member racist, he is stoking division in communities and has a record of dishonesty?” said Blackford while posing a question to outgoing Prime Minister Theresa May.

Blackford resisted a call from the Commons speaker John Bercow to withdraw his comments about Johnson, who is a current member of the parliament.

“The member has called Muslim women ‘letterboxes’, described African people as having ‘watermelon smiles’, and another disgusting slur that I would never dignify by repeating,” said the Scottish MP, adding, “If that’s not racist, Mr Speaker, I don’t know what is.

The comments came after Johnson secured a fresh lead in his bid to become the next prime minister by winning the support of 126 out of 313 Tory lawmakers during a vote on Tuesday.