A Conservative councillor accused of 'racism' towards Sadiq Khan had the most clichéd defence

A Conservative councillor has been suspended from the party for allegedly claiming that Mayor of London Sadiq Khan would treat "white people like dirt".

In a statement a spokesman for the Conservative party said:

As soon as we became aware of his comments he was immediately suspended from the party, pending an investigation.

The suspension followed the complaint of a Putney resident that David Dean had said to him that if Khan was elected:

as a white man ... you will be a pariah in your own town. He will treat you like dirt.

While the complainant insisted that there had been nothing insincere about the encounter and denied that he had been "loud and swearing", Mr Dean told the Evening Standard that “banter” had been taken out of context:

I was in a situation where I was laughing and joking with people and someone else has recorded a snippet of it.

He was loud and swearing but always with a smile on his face. So it was a bit of banter. Whoever has recorded this clearly doesn’t like the Conservatives. There is a context to this and I need to talk to my party.

He added:

I’m not a racist… have you met my wife? She’s from Cyprus.

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