Oliver Letwin’s apology for ‘racist’ memo to No 10 'inadequate'

Trevor Phillips told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme the comments were 'pretty outrageous'

Oliver Letwin blamed 'bad moral attitudes' for unrest in mainly black inner-city areas (Getty Images)

An apology by David Cameron’s policy chief, Oliver Letwin, over “racist” remarks he made after the 1985 Broadwater Farm riot does not go far enough, the former head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission has said.

Describing the comments as “pretty outrageous”, Trevor Phillips told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I don’t think these remarks would have raised a single eyebrow at the time.”

“Now actually if Oliver really wants to be contrite then I think what we have to hear pretty quickly is something about today, how they are going to make good on the Prime Minister’s conference pledge to attack race inequality in Britain.”

Files released by the National Archives in Kew showed that Mr Letwin – then an adviser in Margaret Thatcher’s No 10 Policy Unit – blamed “bad moral attitudes” for a series of major disturbances which broke out in mainly black inner-city areas.

In an outspoken memorandum to the then prime minister, he poured scorn on claims that the unrest was the product of urban deprivation, saying white communities had endured such conditions for decades without rioting. He also dismissed proposals by ministers to foster a new class of black entrepreneurs, saying they would simply set up in the “disco and drug trade”.


 Trevor Phillips is a former chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission 
 (Getty)

In a statement, Mr Letwin, now a minister in the Cabinet Office, said: “I want to make clear that some parts of a private memo I wrote nearly 30 years ago were both badly worded and wrong. I apologise unreservedly for any offence these comments have caused and wish to make clear that none was intended.”

Mr Phillips added, however, that he did not believe Mr Letwin’s comments reflected his true views. “I don’t think that this reflects his attitude,” he said.

Mr Letwin’s 1985 remarks were strongly condemned by Tom Watson, Labour deputy leader, who said he must explain his comments.

“A great many people will be asking whether, as a government minister, he still holds such offensive and divisive views,” he said

In the article about Mr Letwin’s memo, we referred to the No.10 Policy Unit as being headed by John Redwood. In fact, Mr Redwood was not head of the unit at the time the memo was written, in November 1985. We are sorry for any confusion caused.

PA