A black MP has said she was a victim of racism when she was mistaken for a cleaner by another Commons member.
Dawn Butler, Labour MP for Brent Central, said she was in a members-only lift in the Palace of Westminster when another MP said to her: “This lift really isn’t for cleaners.”
She told BBC 5 Live's Pienaar's Politics the incident was one of many racist experiences . Asked if she had ever faced racism in parliament, she said: "Yes – God, there are so many incidents. There was a time when I was in the lift. It was a members' lift that MPs use specially in cases we have [to] get to places quickly. I was in the lift and some other MP said, 'This lift really isn't for cleaners'." But the 46-year-old MP did not name the colleague.
In 2008 Ms Butler described how former Tory minister David Heathcote-Amory had accused her of not being an MP. She said he confronted her as she went to sit in the members’ area on the terrace.
“He actually said to me ‘What are you doing here? This is for members only’.”
Mr Heathcote-Amory was reported to have denied his remarks to Ms Butler were racist, saying he had not recognised her as a new MP. – (PA)