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Kate Plummer
Jun 11, 2022
Ed Sheeran pulls pints and plays pool with Birmingham locals
Indy
A Tory minister has apologised for *checks notes* slagging off Birmingham AND Blackpool.
Speaking during a conference about the government's new digital strategy on Thursday, Heather Wheeler reportedly called the cities "godawful" which doesn't sound great.
According to Chris Middleton, a technology journalist who was at the launch, the junior minister in the Cabinet Office said: “I was just at a conference in Blackpool or Birmingham or somewhere godawful.”
He then said that a Cabinet Office official rang him after he first reported Wheeler’s comments saying it was a joke to break the ice.
Wheeler has been MP for South Derbyshire since 2010 and is parliamentary secretary for the Cabinet Office. She has previously apologised for remarks about Gypsies and Travellers, and was criticised in 2018 when as homelessness minister she said she did not know why the number of rough sleepers had risen.
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Reacting to outrage about her fresh comments, she tweeted:
\u201cWhilst speaking at a conference on Thursday, I made an inappropriate\u00a0remark that does not reflect my actual view.\u00a0I apologise for any offence caused.\u201d— Heather Wheeler MP (@Heather Wheeler MP) 1654881803
Despite her apology, people were not thrilled with her comments and took to Twitter to say so:
\u201cThe mask has slipped.\n\nThis Minister has blurted out what Boris Johnson\u2019s Conservatives really think about our communities behind closed doors. The disrespect is off the scale.\n\nHeather Wheeler has put her utter contempt for voters on show.\nhttps://t.co/6OlTSs5jPR\u201d— Angela Rayner \ud83c\udf39 (@Angela Rayner \ud83c\udf39) 1654880400
\u201cWhat an absolute shower.\n\nThey tell us they\u2019re levelling up the country but this is what they truly think. They can\u2019t even tell the difference between \u201cBlackpool or Birmingham or somewhere godawful\u201d.\n\nClueless and offensive.\n\nhttps://t.co/KAgthh9ONy\u201d— Lisa Nandy (@Lisa Nandy) 1654887232
\u201cWhat a godawful parliamentarian @HeatherWheeler is. \n\nhttps://t.co/ctQgIGatZM\u201d— Hereditary Grand Duke John Bowen \ud83d\udd36 #JOHNSONOUT (@Hereditary Grand Duke John Bowen \ud83d\udd36 #JOHNSONOUT) 1654932943
\u201cThe mask slips again. If you think the Conservatives care about anywhere north of Watford Gap you are kidding yourself.\n\nhttps://t.co/QAg5FIOEMo\u201d— Dr David Shaw (@Dr David Shaw) 1654932669
\u201cI hope @BrumTories are suitably ashamed that a cabinet minister has described our city as "godawful"! What larks! What a funny joke! What obvious disdain for the people of this brilliant city! https://t.co/utcbGzEVQK\u201d— BrumGreenJoe (@BrumGreenJoe) 1654933289
\u201cICYMI. The defence seems to be \u2018yes but this was just something a bit off the cuff\u2019. But\u2026that\u2019s why it\u2019s bad? Presumably we\u2019re just lucky it wasn\u2019t the official title of the speech https://t.co/vsBk1tYfSJ\u201d— Jennifer Williams (@Jennifer Williams) 1654932451
\u201cMinister sorry for 'godawful' #Birmingham and #Blackpool comment\n\nWell I think your government is \u201cgodawful\u201d and that is my actual view. So there.\n\n#LoveBrum https://t.co/syFbNCjdyh\u201d— Tom Long \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@Tom Long \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1654933164
\u201cWhat the actual! The Govt just has contempt for its people. And the get-out-of-jail line "inappropriate remark that does not reflect my actual view". \ud83d\ude20 https://t.co/xKWPxOTfPg\u201d— Ian Ogden (@Ian Ogden) 1654931276
\u201cTories showing their true colours @RichardGrahamUK https://t.co/rk4jNF842c\u201d— Citrus GK hobbit on politics (@Citrus GK hobbit on politics) 1654928057
\u201cSeen this, \u2066@joelycett\u2069 ? \ud83d\udc47\n\nTory MP apologises for calling Birmingham and Blackpool \u2018godawful\u2019 | Conservatives | The Guardian https://t.co/rIUjgTPCk4\u201d— Sarah Churchwell (@Sarah Churchwell) 1654932295
That should help the party in the upcoming by-elections...
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