STATEMENT FROM TIM RIDEOUT.

Hi Iain,

I have issued the following statement today:

“I spent my school and university days in apartheid South Africa. I was so appalled by the racism that I refused to accept the system and was ultimately expelled in January 1985 because of it. So it is very difficult for me to hear myself described as a racist. But I realise that the language I used in a Tweet is far too close to what many people who have experienced racism will have heard far too often in their lifetimes and I realise how that will affect them. I apologise unreservedly to Ms Patel and to anyone else who read my words and was reminded of the kind of attacks they’ve lived with all their life.

What I don’t apologise for is my anger at what I think is the inhumanity of Priti Patel and the Tory Government. The Nationality & Borders Bill disregards the UK’s obligations under the UN Charter on Refugees and will entirely predictably kill children, women and men as and when their boats get turned back in the English Channel.  The final outrage is the way they have tried to shirk the moral responsibility to reach out a hand of help and welcome to Ukrainian refugees who desperately need it.”

Regards

Tim

Dr Tim Rideout

Director