Race row over 'coconut' comment

The comment was made in a council budget meeting

A black councillor has apologised for calling an Asian colleague a "coconut" in a row over funding.

Shirley Brown, a Liberal Democrat councillor, used the term towards Conservative member Jay Jethwa at a Bristol City Council budget meeting.

The incident was recorded live on a webcam at the meeting.

Mrs Brown made the comment in response to a proposal to end funding for the Legacy Commission which funds ethnic minority projects but has apologised.

Mrs Brown told Mrs Jethwa at the meeting: "In our culture we have a word for you, a word which many in the city would understand, and that's coconut.

"At the end of the day I look at you as that.

"I find it absolutely appalling, although I'm not surprised, and an absolute disgrace that the Conservative Party would dare to have such an amendment," she added.

No formal complaint

Mrs Brown said she was "appalled" funding for the Legacy Commission could be lost.

Mrs Jethwa, Stockwood Conservative councillor, said: "It saddens me that in the name of political correctness this council, aided and abetted by the Lib Dems, continues to be pre-occupied with futile attempts to right historic wrongs and backs spending more taxpayers' cash on the Legacy Commission."

A spokesperson for Bristol City Council said a complaint was sent by the chief whip of the Conservative Party at Bristol City Council to the head of legal services, expressing concern at the remark made during the budget meeting.

But it is understood no formal complaint has been made to the council's Standards Committee.

A spokesperson for Mrs Brown said she sent a letter of apology on Thursday to Mrs Jethwa and "apologized unreservedly" for the comment.