People are showing this Jeremy Corbyn picture to anyone defending Oliver Letwin's 'old-fashioned' comments

Senior Tory adviser Oliver Letwin has apologised "unreservedly" for a briefing given to Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s which claimed that white people were less prone to rioting than black people.

The private memo, in the wake of unrest across the capital in 1985, also suggested that a scheme to encourage black entrepreneurs would only result in them investing "discos and drugs".

While his comments have been branded "appalling" and "disgusting" by some, others have sought to defend the man who has been at the heart of government for three decades.

People have suggested that so much time has now passed that we should forget the whole thing

He's not a racist

People had different attitudes back in the 1980s anyway

It was a more carefree time when people used to say "un-PC" things all the time

And then there's Nick Pettigrew, who shared this photo of what Jeremy Corbyn was doing in the 1980s...