- Reaction score
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Mod Squad: Feel free to drop if language is too harsh...
Remember, let's stick to commenting about the content, not getting ugly - I'm sharing because I thought you'd be interested, NOT because I endorse (or not) what was reportedly said. Shared with the usual disclaimer...
Tories sack MP who attacked 'idle' black troops
Sally Peck, Telegraph Online (UK), 9 Mar 07
Article Link
A Conservative front-bencher who accused "idle and useless" ethnic minorities in the Army of using allegations of racism as a cover for their poor performance has been forced to stand down.
Patrick Mercer, the shadow homeland security minister and a former colonel, claimed that being subjected to slurs like "black bastard" and other racial abuse is common, and to be expected, in the Armed Forces.
"I came across a lot of ethnic minority soldiers who were idle and useless, but who used racism as cover for their misdemeanours," the MP for Newark said of his time in the Army in an interview today with the Times.
A Conservative spokesman initially said the remarks were a "private matter", but later in the afternoon David Cameron asked Mr Mercer to step down, describing his comments as "completely unacceptable".
Mr Cameron has drawn fierce criticism for his party's sluggish response to the controversy.
Sadiq Khan, a Labour MP, said: "Patrick Mercer's comments are deeply shocking and so is the initial response of Cameron's HQ.
"Rather than dismissing it as a 'personal matter' David Cameron's Tory Party should have sacked him immediately. This shows that the Conservative Party has not changed."
Mr Cameron, however, said there were no excuses for racism, and told Sky News that he reacted as soon as he heard the comments.
Before announcing that Mr Mercer would be stepping down, a Conservative Party spokesman told the Daily Telegraph: "These are the personal views of a highly-decorated former officer talking about his real-life experience in the British Army."
Following his resignation, the MP for Newark said: "The offence I have obviously caused is deeply regretted ... and I can only apologise if I have embarrassed in any way those fine men whom I commanded. I have no hesitation in resigning my frontbench appointment."
Mr Mercer drew fire for his comments over an anti-racism union being set up by servicemen from Commonwealth countries, which he labelled "complete and utter rot".
He also suggested that suffering racial abuse was on par with suffering abuse over facial features, hair colour or weight.
"I had five company sergeant majors who were all black. They were without exception UK-born, Nottingham-born men who were English - as English as you and me," he told the Times.
"They prospered inside my regiment, but if you'd said to them: 'Have you ever been called a nigger?' they would have said: 'Yes'. But equally, a chap with red hair, for example, would also get a hard time - a far harder time than a black man, in fact.
"But that's the way it is in the Army. If someone is slow on the assault course, you'd get people shouting: 'Come on you fat bastard, come on you ginger bastard, come on you black bastard'."
Mr Mercer's comments followed a report yesterday that soldiers from the Commonwealth were forming their own trade union because of the abuse and racism to which they were subjected.
Yesterday Pte Marlon Clancy, a Belize-born chef in the Royal Logistics Corps, told the Today programme on Radio 4 that "Commonwealth soldiers are third-class soldiers".
Pte Clancy has set up the British Commonwealth Soldiers Union, which is a union in name only because, under Queen's Regulations, troops cannot belong to a workers' organisation.
Although powerless to strike or negotiate, the union will give advice to members and act as a pressure group.
Mercer statement: 'My deep regret'
"The offence I have obviously caused is deeply regretted.
I had the privilege to command soldiers from across the East Midlands, of whom many came from racial minorities.
It was a matter of great pride to me that racial minorities prospered inside the unit, and, indeed at one stage all of my company sergeant majors were black.
What I have said is clearly misjudged and I can only apologise if I have embarrassed in any way those fine men whom I commanded.
I have no hesitation in resigning my front-bench appointment."
Remember, let's stick to commenting about the content, not getting ugly - I'm sharing because I thought you'd be interested, NOT because I endorse (or not) what was reportedly said. Shared with the usual disclaimer...
Tories sack MP who attacked 'idle' black troops
Sally Peck, Telegraph Online (UK), 9 Mar 07
Article Link
A Conservative front-bencher who accused "idle and useless" ethnic minorities in the Army of using allegations of racism as a cover for their poor performance has been forced to stand down.
Patrick Mercer, the shadow homeland security minister and a former colonel, claimed that being subjected to slurs like "black bastard" and other racial abuse is common, and to be expected, in the Armed Forces.
"I came across a lot of ethnic minority soldiers who were idle and useless, but who used racism as cover for their misdemeanours," the MP for Newark said of his time in the Army in an interview today with the Times.
A Conservative spokesman initially said the remarks were a "private matter", but later in the afternoon David Cameron asked Mr Mercer to step down, describing his comments as "completely unacceptable".
Mr Cameron has drawn fierce criticism for his party's sluggish response to the controversy.
Sadiq Khan, a Labour MP, said: "Patrick Mercer's comments are deeply shocking and so is the initial response of Cameron's HQ.
"Rather than dismissing it as a 'personal matter' David Cameron's Tory Party should have sacked him immediately. This shows that the Conservative Party has not changed."
Mr Cameron, however, said there were no excuses for racism, and told Sky News that he reacted as soon as he heard the comments.
Before announcing that Mr Mercer would be stepping down, a Conservative Party spokesman told the Daily Telegraph: "These are the personal views of a highly-decorated former officer talking about his real-life experience in the British Army."
Following his resignation, the MP for Newark said: "The offence I have obviously caused is deeply regretted ... and I can only apologise if I have embarrassed in any way those fine men whom I commanded. I have no hesitation in resigning my frontbench appointment."
Mr Mercer drew fire for his comments over an anti-racism union being set up by servicemen from Commonwealth countries, which he labelled "complete and utter rot".
He also suggested that suffering racial abuse was on par with suffering abuse over facial features, hair colour or weight.
"I had five company sergeant majors who were all black. They were without exception UK-born, Nottingham-born men who were English - as English as you and me," he told the Times.
"They prospered inside my regiment, but if you'd said to them: 'Have you ever been called a nigger?' they would have said: 'Yes'. But equally, a chap with red hair, for example, would also get a hard time - a far harder time than a black man, in fact.
"But that's the way it is in the Army. If someone is slow on the assault course, you'd get people shouting: 'Come on you fat bastard, come on you ginger bastard, come on you black bastard'."
Mr Mercer's comments followed a report yesterday that soldiers from the Commonwealth were forming their own trade union because of the abuse and racism to which they were subjected.
Yesterday Pte Marlon Clancy, a Belize-born chef in the Royal Logistics Corps, told the Today programme on Radio 4 that "Commonwealth soldiers are third-class soldiers".
Pte Clancy has set up the British Commonwealth Soldiers Union, which is a union in name only because, under Queen's Regulations, troops cannot belong to a workers' organisation.
Although powerless to strike or negotiate, the union will give advice to members and act as a pressure group.
Mercer statement: 'My deep regret'
"The offence I have obviously caused is deeply regretted.
I had the privilege to command soldiers from across the East Midlands, of whom many came from racial minorities.
It was a matter of great pride to me that racial minorities prospered inside the unit, and, indeed at one stage all of my company sergeant majors were black.
What I have said is clearly misjudged and I can only apologise if I have embarrassed in any way those fine men whom I commanded.
I have no hesitation in resigning my front-bench appointment."
