Amber Rudd has caused a storm of outrage this afternoon after she referred to Labour’s Diane Abbott as a ‘coloured woman’. Rudd was being interviewed on Jeremy Vine’s show on Radio 2 to mark International Women’s Day.
Asked by Vine whether online abuse is worse for women in general, the work and pensions secretary replied:
‘It definitely is worse if you a woman. And it’s worst of all if you’re a coloured woman. I know that Diane Abbott gets a huge amount of abuse.’
Listen here:
Diane Abbott has responded to the comments with this post on social media:
The term "coloured", is an outdated, offensive and revealing choice of words.
— Diane Abbott MP (@HackneyAbbott) March 7, 2019
And shortly afterwards Amber Rudd sent out this apology in response:
Mortified at my clumsy language and sorry to @HackneyAbbott. My point stands: that no one should suffer abuse because of their race or gender.
— Amber Rudd (@AmberRuddUK) March 7, 2019
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