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To: Solon who wrote (13701)	6/1/2002 12:15:25 PM
From: Lazarus_Long	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 21057

Is Free Speech Dead in the UK? news.bbc.co.uk CHARGES?? No charges over Tory's racist joke The MP's joke was described as "unacceptable" The Conservative politician who cracked a racist joke at a rugby club dinner will not face racism charges, it has been confirmed. Mrs Winterton, 61, was sacked as shadow cabinet spokeswoman for rural affairs after making a joke that Pakistanis were "ten a penny" in the UK. But despite being reported to police for the remark, it was confirmed on Friday that she will not be charged. A Cheshire Police spokeswoman said: "We have investigated the allegation and interviewed various people. No charges have been brought and no further action will follow." Mrs Winterton, who is married to Nicholas Winterton, MP for nearby Macclesfield, made the joke at Congleton Rugby Club at the beginning of May. 'Ten a penny' Conservative leader Ian Duncan Smith said he was forced to sack her because the joke she told was "offensive and unacceptable". She had told the gathering how an Englishman threw a Pakistani out of a railway carriage coach because, the Englishman said, they were '10 a penny' in this country. Mr Duncan Smith offered the shadow rural affairs minister the chance to resign but she refused and he told her to stand down. The MP issued a statement saying: "I unreservedly apologise if anyone was offended or took offence to what I said." The Commission for Racial Equality described Mrs Winterton's joke as "unfortunate", adding that it was particularly bad timing because three British National Party councillors were elected in Burnley the week she made the remark.