Lord Blunkett hit back after being called out for making a “disgusting” reference to someone’s race on Question Time – and reminded viewers that he’s blind.
Blunkett, a Labour peer and former home secretary under Tony Blair, has been blind since birth – and so had the ultimate comeback when he was criticised for supposedly commenting on an audience member’s appearance.
The cringe-filled moment arrived when the panel and audience were discussing how a woman was imprisoned earlier this week for inducing an abortion at home when the foetus was past the 10-week legal limit.
While there was passionate debate about whether or not the judge’s decision to give the woman a 28-month sentence was right, one man in the audience said: “Is not anybody going to speak up for the unborn child though? If it was near eight months, when perfectly healthy babies can be six and seven months and eight months, not one person has spoken up about the child.”
He said if there is time limit to abortion, “that is the law”, repeating: “What about the child?”
Blunkett, who is himself 76, then jumped in: “Maturing white men are not always the best people to make judgements on this.”
The room applauded, as Blunkett tried to add: “But given that I am...”
However, the man in the audience quickly talked over him, and said: “I take issue with the comment! I take issue with the comment! What does my colour have to do with the debate? That is a disgusting comment.”
Blunkett cuts in: “I was talking about myself! I’m the maturing white male, and I’m very diffident.”
He added that he took part in the embryological debate 30 years ago, and that the topic remains difficult to this day.
The conversation moved on from that sticky exchange, onto the details of the actual case and abortion law in the UK.
But a few minutes later, when host Fiona Bruce started to round up the programme, Blunkett suddenly said: “Can I just make one thing very clear?
“It is a small point, but for the audience who don’t know me, I wasn’t making a point earlier about the man’s colour.
“How could I? I can’t see you.”
Bruce chuckled and the audience – including the previously offended man, who also nodded his head in acknowledgement – all clapped.
And Twitter found it pretty hilarious too: