Racist language: Anne Marie Morris.

Theresa May has (reluctantly, one imagines) removed the Tory whip from MP Anne Marie Morris after she was recorded referring to the possibility of no deal being reached over Brexit as a “n*gg*r in a woodpile”.

Here’s a recording of the MP for Newton Abbot, taken at a meeting of eurosceptics at the East India Club in St James Square, central London. Do not play the clip if this kind of language offends you, because the word is uncensored:

Here’s how Sky News reported it:

Can open, worms everywhere.

Firstly, there is the fact that the use of this kind of language – in any context – is now rightly deemed to be utterly unacceptable. Yet Conservatives keep doing it.

This MP is not the only one to have used this kind of language – even recently – and it is notable that other Tories at the meeting did not raise any objection, or even an eyebrow, to it at the time.

For the full list, see this Independent article – and, yes, it does include one instance in which a Labour councillor used the word. It doesn’t matter which side uses it; it is always unacceptable – although we should note that Conservatives appear to use it more than anybody else.

Secondly, there is the matter of double-standards. Tories are happy to accuse Labour and the Left of – for example – anti-Semitism…

https://twitter.com/Paulmatthews_80/status/884487962272165889

… while engaging in the worst kind of racism themselves:

https://twitter.com/Paulmatthews_80/status/884487259172610049

These are tweets from July 10 – today, at the time of writing – in response to Anne Marie Morris’s outburst. I loved Tulip Siddiq’s response:

And this debate is only about an MP’s choice of language! What about racist Tory aristo Rhodri Philipps, who offered a £5,000 reward if someone would run a car over anti-Brexit campaigner Gina Miller?

He said: “If this is what we should expect from immigrants, send them back to their stinking jungles.”

We could also touch upon Zac Goldsmith’s campaign against rival London Mayoral candidate Sadiq Khan, who was described as “The Muslim” in a derogatory manner to residents on the doorstep.

Thankfully, it is clear from my Twitter feed that those of us who aren’t Conservative MPs or Tory voters do know that there are some words that one simply doesn’t use, and expect to be accepted as civilised afterwards. The sad fact is that it is clear, from what has been said, that the Tories don’t. Here’s a sample:

https://twitter.com/MxJackMonroe/status/884419439030128641

(Angela Rayner was, of course, criticised by Tories on July 9 because of her northern accent.)

https://twitter.com/TheMendozaWoman/status/884462850797961217

This brings me back to my suggestion that Theresa May reluctantly withdrew the Tory whip from the offending MP. My personal opinion is that Mrs May simply doesn’t have enough MPs to go dismissing any of them. That, in turn, may be why they feel they can say, or do, whatever they like…

No matter how offensive their behaviour may be to civilised society.

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