A UK government minister has apologized after referring to Britain’s second-largest city and a prominent Lancashire spa as “difficult” on the same day Boris Johnson delivered a keynote address to this last city.
Heather Wheeler, a junior minister in the Cabinet Office, used the phrase to describe Birmingham and Blackpool during a technology conference in London on Thursday.
He has since apologized, saying the comments did not reflect his actual views.
But Labor has blamed the government, which has placed the leveling, narrowing of economic inequality in these coastal and post-industrial areas at the center of its internal agenda of arrogance and contempt.
Wheeler had been speaking at an event in London to launch the government’s new digital strategy, entitled The 2022 to 2025 Roadmap to a Digital Future.
In the preamble of his speech, he told the audience, “I was at a conference in, I don’t know, Blackpool or Birmingham, somewhere fantastic,” before telling an anecdote about a hiccup he had with a lectern. on stage.
On the same day, the Prime Minister was in Blackpool giving a speech on plans to reduce taxes and allow benefit claimants to buy their own social housing. The Conservatives will hold their party conference in Birmingham in October and the city will host the Commonwealth Games this summer.
Chris Middleton, a tech journalist, picked up on Wheeler’s comment before posting a comment on Twitter.
The fight was met with outrage from Labor.
“Who the hell thinks Heather Wheeler is?” said Liam Byrne, a Labor MP representing part of Birmingham, and added that the Conservatives had “cut” public spending in the city, creating poverty and unemployment.
“Let a government minister simply abuse Britain’s second city weeks before our Commonwealth Games tells us everything you need to know about his arrogant, out of touch, born to rule contempt for the heart of our great country “.
Lisa Nandy, a shadow-level secretary, said: “This comment reveals the true colors of the Conservatives. that they really think. “
Raised in South London and now a Member of Parliament for South Derbyshire, Wheeler is currently Parliamentary Secretary in the Cabinet Office, a junior who holds other ministerial posts in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Treasury and is in charge of the homeless. As a minister for the homeless, she was criticized for not knowing why she had increased the number of people sleeping in poor condition.
In a statement, Wheeler said: “While speaking at a conference on Thursday, I made an inappropriate comment that does not reflect my actual opinion. I apologize for any offense caused.”
A government official said: “I think it was a bit disconcerting, as I’m sure you can appreciate.”
The Cabinet Office declined to comment.