The Tories have decided to restore the whip to Anne Marie Morris. The Newton Abbot MP had it suspended for using the phrase the ‘n----- in the woodpile’ at a think tank event.

This decision is a mistake. Whatever Morris says, it is hard to see how anyone could use this phrase unintentionally and it is clearly offensive.

Restoring the whip to Morris less than six months after it was taken away from her suggests that the Tories are not taking this incident as seriously as they should. This is the wrong call both politically and morally. Morally, this kind of casual use of racist language is deplorable bad manners. Politically, it is foolish because it makes the party look tolerant of racist language at a time when the progress it made with ethnic minority voters under David Cameron is being reversed.