Harman apologises for ‘ginger rodent’ attack

Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman apologises for describing Liberal Democrat Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander as a “ginger rodent” in a speech to her party’s Scottish conference.

A statement issued by Labour said: “Harriet Harman has today apologised for her comment about Danny Alexander and says it was wrong.”

Ms Harman’s told the Scottish Labour Party conference in Oban today: “Many of us in the Labour Party are conservationists and we all love the red squirrel.”

“But there’s one ginger rodent we never want to see in the highlands of Scotland – Danny Alexander.”

It was one of a number of personal attacks on political opponents in her speech. She described another Lib Dem minister, Scottish Secretary Michael Moore as “the invisible man”, and said she wanted to make the SNP’s Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond and his deputy Nicola Sturgeon “endangered species”.

Although her audience laughed at her remarks about Mr Alexander, MP for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey, Ms Harman was quickly attacked for insulting Scottish redheads.

George Lyon, Scottish Liberal Democrat election chair, said: “There is no depths to which the Labour Party will not stoop.

“They aren’t fit to be in opposition, let alone in government.”

“Silly remark isn’t anti-Danny or anti-Lib Dem, it’s anti-Scottish.”
SNP MSP Shirley-Anne Somerville

The SNP also criticised the “childish abuse” of Mr Alexander. Nationalist MSP Shirley-Anne Somerville claimed the high proportion of redheads in Scotland meant Ms Harman’s “silly remark isn’t anti-Danny or anti-Lib Dem, it’s anti-Scottish”.

Ms Somerville, herself a redhead said: “Coming from the doyenne of po-faced political correctness, these remarks show she and Labour have lost the plot since losing the election.”

Mr Alexander posted on Twitter, saying: “I am proud to be ginger and rodents do valuable work cleaning up mess others leave behind. Red squirrel deserves to survive, unlike Labour.”