'Politicised' CPS only prosecuted me over a race row because I was a Tory MP, says Bob Stewart

Stewart told Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei “you’re taking money off my country, go away” during an argument outside the Foreign Office’s Lancaster House in Westminster.

Stewart, a former British Army officer and United Nations commander in Bosnia who was MP for Beckenham from 2010 to 2024, was then found guilty in November 2023 for a racially aggravated public order offence.

Stewart immediately announced he would stand down as a MP. However, in February 2024, the conviction was overturned by Southwark Crown Court.

In his first interview since his conviction was overturned, Stewart took aim at the CPS for taking the prosecution.

He said: "The lesson I take is I distrust the Crown Prosecution Service. Why did they allow this huge waste of money and resources to go ahead when there are so many other things?

"It was clear from the evidence I gave the Metropolitan Police sergeant that - one - I wasn't a racist; two - I didn't mean to upset anyone. And, they should have actually taken that and looked at it and dismissed it.

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:

• UK police forces spend more than £10MILLION on DEI jobs - enough to hire 354 officers to patrol our streets
• Police officers who tasered and pepper-sprayed one-legged pensioner, 92, in care home found not guilty of assault
• Specialist police force disbanded after 150 years as Met move to plug £260m funding gap

"Instead, they put me through this trauma. Now I don't I'm not going to suggest that it was a political move, but I don't know.

Why would a normal, rational person who's making a judgment on this not see that? Was it political?"

Stewart said the prosecution only happened because he was a Member of Parliament.

He said: "If I wasn't an MP, I wouldn't have happened. So, because I was an MP, I think that's why it went to trial.

"And I understand that the Metropolitan Police, I've got huge support for the Metropolitan Police who have a most impossible job often.

"The Metropolitan Police they have to report their thing had send up the file to the Crown Prosecution Service.

"I wonder now I'm no longer a politician… They can't get me for saying I distrust the Crown Prosecution Service after what they put me through."

In a message to the CPS he added: "Please Crown Prosecution Service - it seemed to me you were a bit political to go for me.

"You may not have been, but it seemed to me, and I certainly thought you were damned unfair on the evidence that I gave to the police."

Stewart said he was tens of thousands of pounds out of pocket because of the £70,000-plus cost of mounting his defence; he said he had received just £6,000 from the CPS after his conviction was overturned.

Asked if he were now less trusting of speaking to others, Stewart replied: "No, look, I'm 75 years old. What can they do to me now? I've been through the wrangle. There's nothing more you could do to me now. I've loved my life.

"I've been privileged to be an army officer. I have had the joy and the total privilege of commanding men, and I had the absolute privilege of being a Member of Parliament. I reckon I'm a bloody lucky man."

CPS sources said the authority cannot find any record of compensation being paid out although the defence may have applied for and received costs from the court service’s central fund.

A CPS spokesman said: “Our decision to prosecute this case was based solely on the evidence provided – the CPS is independent and political influence plays absolutely no part in our decision making. We respect the court’s decision.”

Listen to Col Bob Stewart's interview on Chopper's Political Podcast on Spotify or Apple podcasts, or watch it on GB News' YouTube channel.