A bookmaker has been accused of racism after it posted an “impressive” picture of a man blacked-up as politician Diane Abbott on social media.
The post, by Star Sports Bookmakers on Friday evening, showed a man wearing blackface at a darts competition and holding up a sign reading “190” – lampooning the shadow home secretary for her grasp of numbers. The maximum score off three darts is 180.
The tweet was captioned: “An early contender for best fancy dress costume at the #PDC #WorldDartsChampionships tonight at #AllyPally.”
The post drew widespread criticism from social media users, including Ms Abbott’s Labour colleague Stella Creasy, who replied: “Wow @StarSports_Bet – guess it says what you really think of your customers that you promote this..hoping @Yourallypally expect better about those using their beautiful venue …as bookies or punters… #21stcenturycalling.”
But the bookmaker defended itself, replying: “This wasn’t some guerrilla marketing stunt Stella, one of our team attended on a social night out. We thought it was a very impressive attempt at fancy dress and merely shared it with our followers. Please stop taking things so seriously.”
Ms Creasy, in turn, accused the firm of “promoting casual racism”.
Ms Abbott famously stumbled over the cost of plans to put thousands of extra police on the streets during a radio interview in May.
The firm declined to comment when contacted by the Press Association.