British opposition chief David Cameron has sparked a minor diplomatic spat over a reported off-the-cuff remark about ”one-legged Lithuanian lesbians”, officials said on Tuesday.
The former Soviet republic’s ambassador in London has written to the Conservative Party seeking an explanation for the remarks, which he said were ”disappointing”, reports said.
Cameron made the gaffe at an Arts Council lunch last week, joking: ”I hope you won’t be giving grants to too many one-legged Lithuanian lesbians,” according to the Mail on Sunday newspaper, which broke the story.
The Arts Council, which awards public funding to the arts, is sometimes accused by right-wingers of supporting too many obscure fringe performers.
In a letter to Cameron, ambassador Vygaudas Usackas said: ”It would be incredibly helpful to understand exactly what you meant when referring to ‘Lithuanians’ and how this relates, if at all, to the Arts Council.
”This will enable me to pass your message to the many Lithuanians living in the United Kingdom and also to their homeland, where this report has caused a great deal of concern.”
Cameron’s office insisted he had not used the word ”lesbian”, referring rather to ”one-legged Lithuanian dance troupes” when making a point about the perception that grants were sometimes given to unusual recipients.
”We have had a dialogue with the ambassador last night, and we just wanted to stress that absolutely no offence was meant in David’s comment,” said a spokesperson. ”It’s not in any way a slight to Lithuania, with which we have very friendly relations.” — Sapa-AFP