Interior Minister racism furore
Calls for Brice Hortefeux to resign for what opposition MPs say were racist remarks at a UMP Party event
OPPOSITION MPs have called for the resignation of Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux after he was caught on video making remarks about a man's race during an UMP Party event in the south-west.
Introduced to Amine Benalia-Brouch, a young party activist of north African appearance, Hortefeux (pictured) said: “You always get one, when there’s one it’s OK, it’s when there are a lot of them you get problems.”
Hortefeux has insisted he was merely referring to the man’s origins from the Auvergne region, saying he had already been photographed with several Auvergnats that day – an explanation accepted by Mr Benalia-Brouch.
Hortefeux was appointed interior minister in a summer reshuffle, having previously held the post of immigration minister.
Socialist Party spokesman Benoît Hamon said: “The question is not whether he should go or not but what he is doing still in the government?”
The Greens accused him of “Le Pen-ist ideas” - referring to the controversial leader of the Front National .
However his own party, including Prime Minister François Fillon, has defended him, accusing the left of whipping up controversy to score political points.
The incident is captured in a video on the website of Le Monde. Mr Benalia-Brouch is introduced by a figure who says “He’s an Auvergnat, an Auvergnat, it’s a disaster.”
As the young man poses with Hortefeux someone says “that’s integration for you!” A man then says: “He speaks Arabic,” and a woman says: “He’s Catholic, he eats pork and foie gras.”
Mr Hortefeux then says: “He doesn’t correspond to the archetype then. Not at all” – before making the controversial remark.
Photo: Medef
