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Emma Dent Coad MP apologises over 'racist blog post' Emma Dent Coad MP apologises over 'racist blog post'
(about 2 hours later)
A Labour MP accused of writing a "racist" article about a London Assembly member has apologised for "any offence caused".A Labour MP accused of writing a "racist" article about a London Assembly member has apologised for "any offence caused".
Emma Dent Coad wrote a blog piece in 2010 in which she labelled Shaun Bailey a "token ghetto boy".Emma Dent Coad wrote a blog piece in 2010 in which she labelled Shaun Bailey a "token ghetto boy".
Mr Bailey called the piece a "hate-filled, racist article". Ms Dent Coad told BBC Radio London she had been quoting "an Afro-Carribean" constituent in her blog.
Ms Dent Coad told BBC Radio London she had been quoting "an Afro-Carribean" constituent in her blog. She added: "If [Mr Bailey] is offended, I apologise." Mr Bailey urged the Labour leadership "to take the strongest disciplinary action possible" against Ms Dent Coad.
In a letter to Jeremy Corbyn, Mr Bailey called the apology "cowardly".
Mr Bailey said: "Despite her claims, she can provide no evidence that I or anyone else used the horrendous terms she advocated."
In the piece Ms Dent Coad claimed Mr Bailey, who was a parliamentary candidate for Hammersmith, had "stigmatised" the area he was born in by referring to it as a "ghetto".In the piece Ms Dent Coad claimed Mr Bailey, who was a parliamentary candidate for Hammersmith, had "stigmatised" the area he was born in by referring to it as a "ghetto".
"Who can say where this man will ever fit in, however hard he tries? One day he is the 'token ghetto boy' standing behind D Cameron, the next 'looking interested' beside G Osborne. Ever felt used?", she wrote."Who can say where this man will ever fit in, however hard he tries? One day he is the 'token ghetto boy' standing behind D Cameron, the next 'looking interested' beside G Osborne. Ever felt used?", she wrote.
After the blog post was highlighted, Mr Bailey said he had never been "labelled a 'token ghetto boy'" before and was "shocked and saddened" by the article. Speaking on the Vanessa Feltz breakfast show on BBC London, Ms Dent Coad said: "If [Mr Bailey] is offended, I apologise."
He said Ms Dent Coad's "use of language should not be acceptable for an elected politician... and she should be ashamed".