Shadow minister Pat Glass labels a voter ‘a horrible racist’ for calling a Polish family ‘spongers’
Remain campaigner's attempts to get people to vote to stay in the EU have gone badly wrong
SHADOW Europe minister Pat Glass has branded a voter ‘racist’ for raising concerns about immigration from Eastern Europe.
During a campaign visit to Sawley in Derbyshire, where she was knocking on doors and supposed to be drumming up support for Remain, she was interviewed by BBC Radio Derby.
At the end of the interview the North West Durham MP said: “The very first person I come to is a horrible racist.
"I’m never coming back to wherever this is.”
She has now apologised to people living in Sawley.
The reports the man she is believed to have been referring to, in the clip above, talked to her about a Polish family in the area who he believed were living on benefits and said he described them as ‘spongers’.
He did not want to be interviewed but denied being a racist.
The shadow minister has now apologised for what she said: “The comments I made were inappropriate and I regret them.
“Concerns about immigration are entirely valid and it’s important that politicians engage with them.
“I apologise to the people living in Sawley for any offence I have caused.”
This is not the first time a Labour politician has been in trouble for hurtful comments about people they have met while on the campaign trail .
Famously Gordon Brown got himself in hot water for his ‘bigot’ attack on pensioner Gillian Duffy back in 2010.
He was challenged by lifelong Labour-voting Mrs Duffy —who was out shopping for a loaf of bread — over immigration.
As they parted he told her: “It was nice to see you.”
But as he was driven off, a microphone he had forgotten to take off picked him up describing her as “just a sort of bigoted woman”.
Four hours later he turned up at her house and spent 40 minutes apologising.