Kelvin MacKenzie defends 'racist' Ross Barkley comments and lambasts 'enemies in the north-west'

Columnist Kelvin MacKenzie has defended comparing Ross Barkley to a gorilla, claiming he never knew of the footballer’s heritage and that the comments were jumped on by his “enemies in the north-west”.

The former tabloid editor was suspended from the paper earlier this month after he wrote a column in The Sun saying looking into the Everton star’s eyes gave him a “similar feeling when seeing a gorilla at the zoo".

The comments sparked a huge backlash and accusations of racism because Mr Barkley’s grandfather was born in Nigeria.

But writing in the Spectator, the controversial columnist said he had never met anybody who knew of Mr Barkley’s heritage, including the Sun’s sports editor.

He also claimed to have been sent a text from Trevor Phillips, the former chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, saying it was “sad to see such a great city wallowing in victim status”.

Mr MacKenzie – already a hate figure on Merseyside because of The Sun's coverage of the Hillsborough disaster when he was editor – wrote: “Actually I and every football fan I had ever met believed Barkley to be white.

“Unluckily for me, but luckily for my enemies in the north-west, that was not entirely true.

“The reality is that had I known of his family tree I would never have made the comparison, but since I am a columnist and not a researcher on Who Do You Think You Are? I didn’t know, and have yet to meet anybody who did.”

He went on: "With hesitation, I read the text from Trevor Phillips.... This is what he said: ‘WTF? I have to confess I had no idea Barkley was a brother. Sad to see a great city wallowing in victim status. Unbelievable.’"

The Sun printed an apology to Mr Barkley at the weekend, saying there was “never any slur intended” through the column.

Mr Barkley has made a formal complaint against The Sun over the article.

Everton also banned the paper from its Goodison Park ground and training complex. Recently Liverpool imposed a similar ban because of The Sun's coverage of the Hillsborough disaster in 1989.

Mr MacKenzie pointed to Sun readers’ response to the media storm, saying that support was 100-1 in his favour.

He also said that just a few weeks before publishing the article, he donated funds to his former school in Dulwich so that it could guarantee scholarships to children from black and minority ethnic backgrounds.