Monday, March 04, 2013



British politician subjected to 6-month '£100,000' police racism probe for telling man he is 'unkempt'

A former Government Minister has been subjected to a ‘humiliating’ six-month racism investigation by police after describing a voter who claims to have a Romany Gipsy background as unkempt.

Conservative MP Tim Loughton was summoned to a police station where he was questioned under caution by detectives for 90 minutes.

The MP, an Education Minister at the time, had to mingle with drug dealers and was asked if he could read or write or had mental health problems, an experience he said was ‘unsettling and intimidating’.

The investigation was sparked by a strongly worded email in which Mr Loughton backed his local council’s description of someone he considered a troublesome constituent.  In the email, the MP told the constituent, Kieran Francis, that he agreed with the description of him as ‘unkempt’.

But Mr Francis claimed this was racist because he has ‘Romany Gipsy origins’ and said his MP was ‘being disrespectful’ by calling him ‘dirty’.

Mr Loughton later made clear to the police he had no knowledge of Mr Francis’s background.

During the investigation, which is likely to have cost taxpayers up to £100,000, Mr Loughton’s staff were also interviewed and hours were spent trawling through archives for evidence before it was abruptly dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service last month.

The 50-year-old MP for East Worthing and Shoreham-by-Sea yesterday said he would be demanding an explanation from Sussex Chief Constable Martin Richards.

He said: ‘I am very angry that time and money has been wasted in pursuing what was clearly a vexatious and malicious complaint that had no substance.

'Because of the merest hint of something to do with racism and the sensitivities about travellers, the police go into overdrive.’

Source

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Because it's minimal effort for the police while appearing to be very active and successful. Catching and prosecuting real criminals is much more difficult!

Anonymous said...

This makes it official. Britain is FUBAR!

Anonymous said...

Unkempt used to mean messy, not dirty. What does that have to do with racism? Oh wait. I forgot. This is Britain, where everyone is offended by everything. When will they realize that to the rest of the world, their whole country is offensive.

Anonymous said...

Congrats Loughton on speaking out about someone who has acted like a thug

The guy does not even know its not Romany heritage its Roma, Romany Gypsies originated in Egypt and India.

you should see some of the comments this guy makes about some people. Bloody disgusting

Tim, you get my vote now

Anonymous said...

More xenophobic/anglophobic postings when similar topics are about their own country. Ever heard of throwing stones when living in glass houses?!