A Labour MP who branded a black Tory activist a ‘token ghetto boy’ apologised today for triggering a race row.
Emma Dent Coad wrote the incendiary blog post in 2010, years before she was first elected to Parliament.
The Kensington MP jibed that then Conservative-candidate Shaun Bailey could not ‘fit in’ with the Tories in a furious rant when she was a councillor.
Mr Bailey branded the remarks ‘racist, hate filled’ when they emerged publicly yesterday.
Ms Dent-Coad today claimed she had been repeating what other people had said and her comments were taken ‘the wrong way’.
Emma Dent Coad, MP for Kensington jibed that Shaun Bailey could not ‘fit in’ with the Conservatives in a furious rant when she was a councillor
Shaun Bailey, who was standing for parliament in North Kensington in 2010 when the blog was written, demanded that Jeremy Corbyn remove the Labour whip from his MP
The MP told BBC Radio London: ‘If he was offended by me repeating what other people have said then I do apologise.
‘Clearly, I shouldn’t have repeated it. People have taken it the wrong way.’
Mr Bailey, who was standing for parliament in 2010 when the blog was written, demanded that Jeremy Corbyn remove the Labour whip from his MP.
He said the ‘token ghetto boy’ jibe was among the most offensive that could be made to a black man.
Ms Dent Coad – who sparked a furore by insulting Prince Harry at a Labour conference fringe event in September – launched the extraordinary diatribe in a post on her website in April 2010.
Referring to Mr Bailey, who was standing for parliament in Hammersmith, she wrote: ‘It must be said that his constant stigmatisation of the area he was born in as a ‘ghetto’ has not exactly endeared him to his former neighbours, one of whom calls him ‘a free-loading scumbag’, another ‘the most hated man in North Kensington’.’
She said the ward of the constituency where Mr Bailey lived at the time was ‘a richly diverse and stable neighbourhood’.
‘So, not exactly a ‘ghetto’ then… ‘ she added.
‘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?
‘Two things are certain. One is that his current posse of public school buddies will drop him like a hot potato if he doesn’t get elected. The other is that he will no longer be welcome in North Ken if he does.’
Mr Bailey – who did not win the Commons seat but has since become a London assembly member – told the Guido Fawkes website: ‘I am shocked and saddened by the hate-filled, racist article written by Labour MP Emma Dent Coad which has surfaced this afternoon.
Ms Dent Coad launched the diatribe in a post on her website in April 2010 (pictured)
Mr Bailey was picked out as a rising star by David Cameron and George Osborne (pictured with the former PM in 2007)
‘During my time in politics I have dealt with prejudice and attacks from hard-line groups, including the BNP, but not once have I been labelled a ‘token ghetto boy’.
‘Her use of language, including the caption of ‘keeping it real’, is more akin to that of a white supremacist group than that of an elected politician and she should be ashamed.’
Mr Bailey added in an interview with LBC radio: ‘Any black person would know if you really wanted to offend a black person you would call them token, you would call them coconut.
‘She knows what she is saying.’