Humiliating apology for photo blunder
THE MIRROR was forced into a humiliating apology yesterday after mistakenly picturing a black banker instead of Kwasi Kwarteng in an online story.
The Chancellor pointed out the mistake to the Labour-backing paper on Twitter with the words: ‘That isn’t me…’
The story, headlined ‘Kwasi Kwarteng said he had to do “something different” with mini-budget’ showed Bernard Mensah from Bank of America.
Mr Mensah was among representatives of US banks who met the Chancellor at the Treasury on Wednesday and was pictured outside the building.
It came just days after Labour MP Rupa Huq dismissed Mr Kwarteng as ‘superficially’ black, triggering a row that led to her suspension from the party.
The Mirror’s gaffe came on the first day of Black History Month. Shaun Bailey, the black former Conservative candidate for London mayor, posted a sarcastic tweet saying: ‘For a second I thought this was me, then I remembered that we don’t all look the same.’
Anti-racism campaigner and broadcaster Trevor Phillips added: ‘Seriously? On Day 1 of Black History Month?’
The Mirror later issued a statement saying: ‘We apologise to Mr Kwarteng and all our readers.’