Ultra-loyal* Labour member for Alyn & Deeside Carl Sargeant has let fly at Eleanor Burnham, Lib Dem list AM for North Wales, who rather unfortunately used the word 'Japs' to refer to our friends in the Far East in the Senedd yesterday (she's since apologised). Mike German "should immediately remove Eleanor Burnham from the North Wales regional list for this year’s election," fumes Mr Sargeant. "There should be no room for racism in Wales." What Ms Burnham said was:
"Why not invest in the Maglev train that the Japs use to whizz through the countryside at about 320 mph, rather than piddling around at 60 mph as we do?"
...which is a little silly but hardly suggests she's about to defect to the BNP.
Mr Sargeant has done this before. In October 2004, as his press release today reminds us, "Eleanor Burnham offended the people of North Wales by referring to them in the Assembly as 'dregs'." What Ms Burnham actually said, referring to the perceived lighter workloads list AMs had compared to constituency members, was:
"Frankly, some of us have to pick up the dregs with which some of the constituency Members cannot cope."
...which is not the same as describing the people of North Wales as dregs. And as the media did not pick up on it, it could hardly have offended the people of North Wales. Unless any people from North Wales were there. Which is unlikely.
*Except when it comes to 12-lane roads, yes.