Shelagh Fogarty’s Immediate Reaction To Amber Rudd's “Coloured” Remark
7 March 2019, 15:13
This was Shelagh Fogarty’s immediate reaction after hearing that Amber Rudd had referred to Labour’s Diane Abbott as “coloured” in an interview.
The LBC presenter said she was “genuinely stunned” by the Work and Pensions Secretary’s choice of words.
Ms Rudd said she was “mortified” with herself following fierce backlash after using the term during a radio interview about the abuse female MPs face.
Ms Abbott, who is shadow home secretary, said the word was “outdated, offensive and revealing”.
Giving her response, Shelagh said: “I’m a bit speechless.
“While coloured isn’t abuse as such - seriously?
“How a woman of a similar age to me, in the job that she does, the life she leads, the city she lives in, to use the word ‘coloured’ about a black person is astounding to me.”
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 MP (@AmberRuddHR) March 7, 2019
The term "coloured", is an outdated, offensive and revealing choice of words.
— Diane Abbott (@HackneyAbbott) March 7, 2019
She added: “Surely you would expect somebody of the seniority of Amber Rudd… you’d expect somebody of that ability… just to be saviour than that.
“I’m genuinely stunned.”