Moment far-right MP shouts ’go back to Africa’ during French Parliament

The French parliament was suspended on Thursday after a hard-right MP in Marine Le Pen’s party was accused of shouting “back to Africa“ to a black colleague as he posed a question about migrants. Carlos Martens Bilongo of the leftist France Unbowed party (LFI) was questioning the government on the request by the SOS Mediterranee NGO for Paris’s help in finding a port for 234 migrants rescued at sea in recent days. “They should go back to Africa!“ interrupted Gregoire de Fournas, a newly elected member of Ms Le Pen’s nationalist, anti-immigration National Rally, or RN. Ms Le Pen has for years insisted the once racist and xenophobic party of her father Jean-Marie Le Pen - formerly the Front National - is now “de-toxified” and ready to govern. The outburst sparked angry scenes with MPs’ fury compounded by the fact that it was unclear whether the target of the phrase was Mr Bilongo himself or the migrants, as in French the pronouns “he“ and &qu