British Home Secretary Jack Straw reported for inciting racial hatred

05 September 1999

British Home Secretary Jack Straw has been reported to the Commission for Racial Equality as possibly inciting racial hatred. The BBC on August 19, 1999, said that Mr Straw had claimed that criminals are "masquerading as law-abiding Gypsies." He made the remarks on July 22, 1999, during an interview with BBC Radio West Midlands. The U.K. daily The Independent wrote on August 23, 1999 that Jack Straw refused to withdraw his comments, insisting that none of his comments had been "unwise".

(BBC Radio, The Independent)