Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 2 November (HL2682), in what way they consider that the tweet may have been misinterpreted; and why the Department did not issue an explanation at the time of the tweet's removal in order to ensure public understanding that they did not consider those types of photographs to be racist.

Some media reporting and public comments suggested that the picture together with the tag line was racist. In the answer I gave on 2 November 2016 to Question HL2682, it was acknowledged that this could have been open to misinterpretation. This is because such things are a matter of judgement and personal perception. Officials therefore decided that it should be removed, and an apology was issued for any offence which may have been caused.