The photo that exposes blackface shame of Tory MP: Desmond Swayne refuses to apologise after dressing as soul legend James Brown at party with wife – but ‘can’t deny’ it’s him in snap
- Desmond Swayne, 63, refused to apologise when he admitted painting his face
- The MP said he wasn’t aware of any pictorial evidence of costume on Friday
- But he was confronted with the image at the Tory conference in Manchester
- Says it is ‘definitely’ his wife in the picture and can’t deny that he is in it too
Mr Swayne says that this picture shows his wife and that he can’t deny the man on the left is him
This is the picture that exposes the blackface shame of Tory MP Desmond Swayne as he refuses to apologise for dressing up as the soul legend James Brown.
Mr Swayne has said that he can’t deny it’s him in the snap, which shows him with a painted face.
It surfaced four days after the veteran politician said he dressed as the singer at a party celebrating the film Blues Brothers, in which the star appeared.
He previously told MailOnline that he wasn’t aware of pictorial evidence of the outfit, but now says he cannot deny he is the man in a photo sent to the Daily Telegraph, confirming the woman pictured is his wife.
The former foreign aid minister said ‘It is definitely my wife’ when a reporter confronted him at the Tory conference in Manchester.
Unlike Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who apologised after pictures emerged of him in ‘brownface’ as Aladdin, 63-year-old Mr Swayne said he had ‘no intention’ of saying sorry.
In a post on his blog, the MP for New Forest West, Hants, lashed out at political correctness, adding the best response is to ‘laugh at it’.
He said: ‘I suspect that Justin Trudeau’s cringing apology for blacking himself “blinded by his own white privilege” has done him rather more harm than the original offence. It was a themed “Arabian Nights” fancy-dress party for heaven’s sake!
The Tory (left) has refused to apologise after Justin Trudeau said sorry for a picture showing him dressed as Aladdin (right)
‘It comes to something when you can’t dress-up as Aladdin without attracting the opprobrium of the ‘great and good’.’
He added that he would have done better to have said it was an entirely acceptable ‘bit of fun’ and refused to apologise.
‘I once went to a ‘Blues Brothers’ themed fancy-dress party as James Brown. I went to some trouble to be as authentic as possible.
‘I can assure readers of this column that I have no intention of apologising. Constituents often write to me having been infuriated by some latest absurdity of political correctness. I tell them that the best response is simply to laugh at it.’
On Friday he told MailOnline: ‘I don’t make a habit of fancy dress parties. I go once every two or three years, someone invites you to one. This was a few back.’
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