Labour MP Jack Dromey accused of being racist after using the word 'pikey' but he defended himself saying it was only in reference to the Dad's Army character
The politician husband of deputy Labour leader Harriet Harman was accused of being racist after he referred to a postman as a "pikey".
Jack Dromey, 65, a shadow cabinet minister, drew criticism after he tweeted a picture of himself and a Royal Mail employee captioned with the apparent slur.
Hundreds of social network users pulled the shadow police minister up on the gaffe, with some even calling for officers to investigate the 'racist' tweet.
But he defended his use of the word, an offensive term for Irish travellers, and said it was a nickname used by the postie's colleagues who had named him after a Dad's Army character.
The photo was taken as Mr Dromey met staff at a delivery office in his Erdington, West Mids, constituency.
He posted several pictures of himself and workers at the Royal Mail depot as he toured the facility.
One picture showed the pro-trade union MP posed up with his arm round a young employee as both men grinned for the camera.
The caption read: “With Gareth Martin, the Pikey from the Erdington Royal Mail Sorting Office. A great guy!”
Twitter users were quick to pick up on the tweet,
HammyWheel branded Dromey 'disgraceful' and warned him to expect a call from the police.
He wrote: “Disgraceful incitement to racial hatred there? ‘Pikey’ is a horrid thing to call anyone. Expect a knock on your door from Plod.”
Guy Birchall wrote: “Worse than calling a policeman a pleb. Disgustingly insulting behaviour!”
Melindi Scott simply added: “Raaaaaaaaaaaacist”
Dromey insisted he had used the racially-loaded word because it was a nickname used by Mr Martin's fellow colleagues.
In a later tweet he wrote: “Don't panic, Mr Mainwaring. This morning's meeting was with Gareth, a Postie nicknamed after Corporal Pike from Dad's Army”.
The gaffe is bound to embarrass right-on wife Harriet Harman, 63, who has previously lent her backing to politically-correct campaigns like calls to ban topless models from The Sun's page 3.
Some web users even suggested the Labour MP should have a word with her husband, who made another Twitter blunder last month when he unwittingly favourited a link to a gay porn website.
CaptainEBlackadder accused the couple of double-standards.
He wrote: "@HarrietHarman get @JackDromeyMP to sort his language out, please.You'd burst a blood vessel if this was a Tory MP."
Gbruce16 added: "Think you might be getting an earful from your partner!"
A Royal Mail spokesperson said the term 'Pikey' was not commonly used in its sorting offices.
She said: “I can confirm there is no such slang term for a role within Royal Mail delivery offices.”
