The Labour MP Neil Coyle has had the whip suspended after allegations he made racist comments to a journalist in a House of Commons bar, a party spokesperson said. It comes after a complaint by Henry Dyer, a political reporter for the Insider website, about the alleged behaviour of Coyle, the MP for the south London seat of Bermondsey and Old Southwark since 2015. In a statement published by Insider, Dyer, who is from a British Chinese background, said Coyle referred to China as “Fu Manchu”, and told Dyer he looked like he was involved in giving money to the Labour MP Barry Gardiner, who received large sums from a woman who later was accused of being a Chinese agent. Dyer said he had subsequently encountered Coyle around parliament and felt a “sense of discomfort”, and decided to inform the Commons Speaker, Lindsay Hoyle. A Labour spokesperson said: “The Labour party expects the highest standards of behaviour from all our MPs and we take allegations of this sort very seriously. Accordingly, the chief whip has now suspended the Labour whip from Neil Coyle pending an investigation.” It is understood that Hoyle held a meeting with the serjeant at arms, who is responsible for order among MPs, who instructed that Coyle should be suspended from bars in the Commons for six months, with similar action taken in the Lords. In a statement sent to the Guardian, Coyle said: “I’m very sorry for my insensitive comments, have apologised to everyone involved and will be cooperating fully with the investigation.” In his statement, Dyer said that on Tuesday evening he was in the Strangers’ Bar in parliament talking to other journalists, when Coyle approached the group. In the ensuing conversation, Dyer said, Coyle suggested Gardiner had been paid by “Fu Manchu”. Dyer said he “gently pushed back” at Coyle over the comment, adding: “He asked me if it was just the case that I was being oversensitive, before saying that he would apologise if he had said something bad and it wasn’t just me being sensitive, which I believe was insincere. He then said he had relatives of Chinese descent. “I responded by saying that I am British Chinese, to which Coyle responded that he could tell, ‘from how you look like you’ve been giving renminbi [the Chinese currency] to Barry Gardiner’.” Dyer said that as he left the bar later, he waved goodbye to Coyle, “to which he responded by putting two fingers up at me”.