Dear Home Secretary,

We are writing on behalf of constituents in Crouch End, Haringey, who have asked us to raise concerns about remarks you made at a public event recently.

You told members of the public who disagreed with you to "fuck right off." Whatever one thinks of the hecklers' manner, this response is not acceptable from a senior cabinet minister in a public forum, and especially the Home Secretary. Robust disagreement is critical to democracy. Profanity directed at critics subverts it.

Your subsequent framing - that those who object to your policy direction are motivated by a belief that a brown woman is "not allowed" to hold certain views - does not hold up to scrutiny. My constituents' objection is not to who you are. It is to what you said, and how you said it. Attributing their concern to racial condescension is itself a way of avoiding accountability, and it is precisely the kind of manoeuvre that erodes public trust in politicians.

People in this country are routinely dismissed from their employment for speaking to colleagues or members of the public in this way. The standard for those who hold the highest offices of state should be higher, not lower.

Our constituents have asked me to request a public apology. I support that request and would be grateful for your response.

Yours sincerely,

Dr Imad Ahmed, Cllr Luke Cawley-Harrison, Fiona Orford-Williams Lib Dem Councillor Candidates, Crouch End, Haringey, London

Haringey Liberal Democrats

*

‘Shabana Mahmood called me a white liberal for heckling her – I’m not even white’

Green New Deal Rising

Shabana Mahmood’s expletive was shocking. But not for the reason you think