Tory MP Forced To Say Sorry Over Olympic Gaffe

A Conservative MP has been forced to apologise after he appeared to describe the Olympic opening ceremony as "leftie multi-cultural crap" at a reportedly Nazi-themed stag party.

The comments claimed the three-and-a-half hour show was more left wing than that which opened the 2008 Beijing Games in Communist China.

It appeared in a Twitter account purporting to be that of Aidan Burley, the Tory MP for Cannock Chase, while the ceremony in Stratford was taking place.

After the opening section, which showcased British history, including the creation of the NHS and the Jarrow march, a 1936 protest against unemployment in the North East, two tweets were posted from @AidanBurleyMP, saying: "The most leftie opening ceremony I have ever seen - more than Beijing, the capital of a communist state! Welfare tribute next?"

A second tweet read: "Thank God the athletes have arrived! Now we can move on from leftie multi-cultural crap. Bring back red arrows (sic), Shakespeare and the Stones!"

Downing Street has distanced itself from the comments, with a senior source saying: "We do not agree with him."

The tweets have caused an avalanche of criticism on the social networking site including from a fellow Conservative, Croydon MP Gavin Barwell.

"@AidanBurleyMP with respect, us Londoners are rather proud of the diversity of our city #nothingleftwingaboutit," he tweeted in reply.

Mr Burley lost his job as a parliamentary private secretary after media reports of the party on December 3 last year in a restaurant in the French Alpine resort of Val Thorens, at which one guest is alleged to have dressed in an SS uniform and others are said to have chanted Nazi slogans.

The Cannock Chase MP has repeatedly apologised for being present at the event, but said in December: "I do not believe I have broken any French law and have distanced myself from the behaviour of other people on the stag."

A later tweet from the account said the previous comments had been "misunderstood".

"Seems my tweet has been misunderstood. I was talking about the way it was handled in the show, not multi-culturalism itself," it said.

A Conservative Party spokesman could not immediately confirm the account belonged to the MP,

However, he said: "I would echo David Cameron's words from earlier that this is a great showcase to show what Britain is all about."