Smart but ugly

We were at Cadogan Hall in smart Sloane Square. The audience– many well-heeled – was lively and keen, a good sign of political engagement. Such debates can get fiery and that makes them real and exciting. Other panellists were Michael Eboda, the ex-editor of The Voice newspaper, the prolific and weighty columnist Simon Jenkins, and Boris Johnson. All went spiffingly well until I said we needed time-limited, affirmative action in recruitment and promotion for key institutions such as the police forces.

...Mr Eboda then directly interrogated Mr Johnson on some of his insulting assertions about black people. The Tory MP first huffed and puffed and then blew out a timid apology. Neither Mr Eboda nor I were rude or aggressive, yet we seemed to stir some pretty revolting feelings in a number of ladies and gents attending. There was much unruly shouting. I was called a "cunt" and told to go back to Uganda. Mr Eboda was also racially abused, as was anybody else, black and white, who stood up to the posh hooligans. Members of the Black Police Federation later told me they were actually afraid of the mob malevolence. Five years ago, few readers resorted to ugly, racist abuse. Now hundreds mug me via email.