Loughborough Students’ Union has received a formal complaint regarding “anti-Semitic and sexist” tweets posted by Vice President Elect, Rory Mitchell, Label can exclusively reveal.
The messages were posted via his personal account on the evening of April 19 and were in reference to panelists on the BBC’s flagship debating programme, Question Time. An anonymous emailer contacted Label stating that they had sent an official complaint to the Students' Union.
One such tweet read:
“Who is this guy. He talks so so much sense. Shut up Yvette you silly bint.”
The comment was made regarding Shadow Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, who was representing the Labour Party on the long-running panel show hosted by David Dimbleby.
In response to a debate on the current state of the British economy, Mitchell also posted.
“Yvette cooper. Shut up. You got us into this, j*w off.”
In a statement on the morning of April 20, Vice President for Finance & Commercial Services Elect, Mitchell, apologised for any offence caused.
“I am incredibly sorry to anyone offended by tweets. I would like to make it clear that I am not at all a prejudiced person and these tweets were not meant in an offensive way at all and have since been deleted.
"I would like to apologise profusely to anyone offended by my remarks.”
He was elected in March after 16 days of campaigning in the Executive Elections and is due to begin work in July 2012, replacing incumbent Lucy Padolsey.
Loughborough Students' Union President, Rebecca Bridger, spoke to Label:
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"Being involved in the Students' Union is all about learning. Rory seems to have learned that if you use offensive expressions like these, people will think you are anti-Semitic / Sexist. Even if you are not, it can unjustly encourage those that are. "Rory assures me that he is not that kind of a person and has apologised. I am glad to see this, as he would not be able represent our wide range of members if he is prejudiced against a proportion of them. "I think we should let the matter rest there but people will understandably be watching to see that Rory assurances and apologies are as sincere as they appear to be." |
