A TORY MP who joked about Scots being sent as “slaves to the colonies” has been promoted in Rishi Sunak's mini-reshuffle.
Lucy Frazer, the MP for South East Cambridgeshire, has been made Culture Secretary, replacing Michelle Donelan.
She previously served as a minister for transport under Liz Truss’s short-lived government and was a minister for Sunak in the Department for Levelling Up.
Frazer’s new position will see her lead the reformed Department for Culture, Media and Sport - the department lost its digital remit.
Donelan will lead the newly created Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.
She previously apologised after making a joke in the Commons about Scots have been captured and enslaved.
During her maiden speech as an MP, Frazer had said of her constituency: "It is the home of Oliver Cromwell who defeated the Scots at Dunbar, incorporated Scotland into his Protectorate, and transported the Scots as slaves to the colonies.”
Frazer then waited until the laughing and “here, heres” abated before adding: "Now there is an answer to the West Lothian question – but not one that of course I would recommend."
June 4 2015 and Lucy Frazer (Tory MP for South East Cambridgeshire) jokes about turning the Scots into slaves. pic.twitter.com/tGjvNuTmBU
— TRADASRO 🏴 (@tradasro) June 3, 2020
“The West Lothian question” refers to a question posed by Tam Dalyell in 1977, where he asked if MPs from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland should be allowed to vote on legislation that only affected England, given the fact that English MPs would have no influence over matters devolved to those nations.
After Frazer’s “joke” sparked outrage, she issued an apology. “I am extremely sorry for any offence I have caused,” she told the Sunday Herald in 2015.
“That was not my intention. I have the highest regard for Scotland and the Scottish people.”
