Is a delay in building a ship really a good reason to make a racist remark? Tory MP Mark Francois seems to think so.
Here he is in Parliament, doing just that:
The word that was bleeped out is “Japs” – a term often used to describe Japanese people in a derogatory way, for example during the Second World War. It has not been used in the House of Commons since the 1940s.
Francois reckons he didn’t mean any “disrespect or offence”, but that’s hardly the point. If anybody of Japanese ethnicity heard his speech and took offence, they would be entirely within their rights to do so.
He made his comment during Defence Questions on Monday (November 7). At the time, Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle didn’t condemn the language Francois used, nor did Defence Secretary Ben Wallace.
It was only in response to a point of order by Labour’s Sarah Owen that the Speaker said “the casual use of racial terms causes upset and should not be used” and asked MPs to choose their words “carefully”.
It’s not good enough.
Tories have been nurturing an atmosphere of division in the UK since they slithered back into office in 2010, and deepening racism has been a keystone of this.
Now, it seems, they feel comfortable enough to make racist remarks in the House of Commons itself.
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