Saturday, February 28, 2004
The Tory MP who made the joke about drowning cockle pickers has refused to apologise and insisted that as she was talking at a private party she has nothing to apologise for. She's on very dangerous ground. Yes, she was talking at a private event. Yes, as most jokes are based on xenophobic, racist, homophobic, sexist grounds we probably all do tell our friends such jokes every day. However, if I told such a joke and someone found offense, I would at least say "sorry" and then move quickly on. Also, being a public servant may well mean that one of the things she has to sacrifice to do the job is this ability she has to speak without thinking. It doesn't really matter if she was misreported or was reported by another MP for purely political reasons (and I think she overestimates how important she is, as though the entire Labour party was devoting it's entire time to bringing her down) but all that's needed is for her to show some fucking decency and apologise and then we'll take her whining about her treatment a bit more seriously.
