Shadow Europe minister Pat Glass brands voter 'a horrible racist' in radio blunder

Pat Glass: The shadow minister has apologised
Labour Party/PA Wire
Mark Chandler19 May 2016
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Shadow Europe minister Pat Glass has apologised for describing a voter live on radio as a "horrible racist" while campaigning on the EU referendum.

She made the comments at the end of an interview in Sawley, Derbyshire, saying: "The very first person I come to is a horrible racist.

"I'm never coming back to wherever this is."

It is understood the man she was referring had referred to a Polish family in the area who he believed were living on benefits, describing them as "spongers".

Ms Glass has since said the comments were "inappropriate" and apologised to the people of Sawley "for any offence I have caused".

The remarks, which have drawn comparison with Gordon Brown's infamous "bigoted woman" comment following his meeting with Gillian Duffy during the 2010 election, came at the end of an interview with BBC Radio Derby.

North West Durham MP Ms Glass said today: "The comments I made were inappropriate and I regret them.

"Concerns about immigration are entirely valid and it's important that politicians engage with them.

"I apologise to the people living in Sawley for any offence I have caused."

Tory MP and Grassroots Out Brexit campaigner Peter Bone said: "It is disappointing that a member of the Remain campaign called a voter a 'horrible racist' for raising perfectly valid concerns about the impact uncontrolled migration is having on the UK.

Brendan Chilton, general secretary of the pro-Brexit Labour Leave, said: "These comments are nothing short of shocking. A significant number of Labour voters want to leave the EU, and have justified concerns with immigration.

"It is because of open-door immigration, among other issues like our national services, that I'm fighting for the UK to leave the European Union. Pat Glass' comments do not reflect the views of a large number of Labour voters.

"The Labour party is split on the EU issue. Let's make no bones about that."

Additional reporting by the Press Association.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT