MP: CAR COP PROFILED ME
Labour’s Butler hits out at London stop
LABOUR’S Dawn Butler accused police of racially profiling her after a car she was travelling in was pulled over yesterday.
The MP for Brent Central said she was “angry and annoyed” after the incident in Hackney, East London, which was recorded on a mobile.
Ms Butler said: “We were stopped because we’re two black people driving in a nice car in Hackney.”
In the clip the MP, who sent out a tweet saying “I just got stopped by the police... more details to follow”, is seen sitting in the passenger side.
She tells one officer: “I’ve been doing a lot of work with the police on stop and search, and actually the way you do it and the way you profile is wrong. Because ... you create an environment where you create animosity.
“And it’s irritating because you cannot drive around on a Sunday afternoon whilst black because you’re going to be stopped by the police.”
One of the officers tells her: “I appreciate everything you say and I do apologise for wasting your time.”
Ms Butler later told Sky News: “There is an institutional racism in the police, we know that, and it needs to be taken out. It is cancerous and it needs to be cut out of the police force, and it’s urgent. It is just tiring and exhausting, and mentally draining.”
Met Chief Superintendent Roy Smith said he had spoken to Ms Butler, who gave a “balanced account of the incident”.
He said: “She was positive about one officer and gave feedback on others and the stop.
“We are listening to those concerns and Dawn is quite entitled to raise them.”
There is an institutional racism in the police, we know
DAWN BUTLER MP
ON ‘CANCER’ IN SYSTEM
BBC Director-General Tony Hall has apologised for a news report that contained a racial slur.
The N-word was used in full in a report about a racially aggravated attack, broadcast by Points West and the BBC News Channel on July 29.
More than 18,600 complaints were made about the report describing an attack on an NHS worker in Bristol but the corporation initially defended the use of the word.
BBC Radio 1xtra presenter Sideman quit in protest on Saturday.
The DJ said: “The action and the defence of the action feels like a slap in the face to our community. With no apology I just don’t feel comfortable being aligned with the organisation.” In a dramatic U-turn, Lord Hall said yesterday the BBC “now accepts that we should have taken a different approach.” He added: “We are very sorry”. He acknowledged the report had caused “distress” to many, adding: “Every organisation should be able to acknowledge when it has made a mistake. We made one here.”
The BBC would be changing its guidance on offensive language in its output, he added. Radio 1xrta said: “Sideman is an incredibly talented DJ.
“The door is always open for future projects.”