Whiter than white

" he could face being sacked" is meaningless. I could face being chosen to represent my country at the Olympics.

It sounds like the person who drew attention to this thinks that the police are investigating things that they shouldn't bother with, and has chosen this example to show how silly the police are being.
I would think they have to investigate any complaint, however silly it looks at first sight.

My first thought on "whiter than white" was about laundry, btw.

I assume you are being 'faux naive' FarNorth. Of course the editor of a newspaper is influential in promoting a particular stance. Mr Osborne is not Mr Neutral! It is the same for all newspapers.
They tend to represent a political & /or Political perspective. I suggest that the Evening Standard is conservative and somewhat reactionary .

and its a right wing rag with half the story.

And... PECS?

Hmm. the link is somehow connected to Evening Standard..owned I think by a former KGB agent and edited by George Osborne...

Here is a link so posters can find out what is actually happening.

www.rt.com/uk/438461-police-accused-racist-white/

“ When I was born I was black, when I grew up I was black, when I'm sick I'm black, when I go out in the sun I'm black, when I'm cold I'll be black, and when I die I'll be black. But you, when you where born you were pink, when you grew up you were white, when you're sick you're green, when you go out in the sun you turn red, when you're cold you turn blue, and when you die you'll turn purple. And you have the nerve to call me coloured? “

I wonder if the person who made a complaint has a personal grudge against the senior officer? Or if the senior officer has a history of racist attitudes & this more innocuous phrase is being used to highlight that?
The officer is not suspended but on reduced duties..which suggests it is not deemed e tremely serious..until the complaint procedure is completed. One outcome of a complaint is that it is not upheld. Another could be that a person gets a warning..in extreme cases it could mean being fired. The Evening Standard is selling papers ...

We have members of staff from all over the world where I work; Asian, African, Korean, Eastern European, and of several different cultures too. I've never had occasion to refer to them by their colour, only their name. But if I did have to refer to their colour, I'm honestly not sure what the correct term is any more. Black seems harsh somehow, because they're not black, they're brown. Person of colour just sounds daft; we're ALL people of colour one way or another.
Think I'll just keep to calling them by their name, as I prefer to be referred to.

annep
And on here!

A person of colour that I know prefers to be called half caste, or mulatto, which means mule coloured.

Sense of humour- have to be very careful with that. I wouldn't like to be a comedian nowadays! ( and I'm not excusing tasteless jokes)

er no....nobody is waiting to trap anyone. Thankfully we are better informed these days.

If in doubt , you can always check with a person how they wish to be addressed.
If you accidently use an outmoded phrase you can apologise.

Most people have a sense of humour and are not sitting around waiting to be offended.

I have heard Diane Abbott use the term 'person of colour' so I presume it is politically correct.

However, I don't think that 'coloured person' is pc.

No wonder people get confused.
And there is always someone waiting to trap the unwary or those who think they are saying the right thing, only to find that it is not pc any longer.

oldbatty, you are right of course. There is a modern journalistic tendency to lob a comment into the media about anything and everything. Note is taken about who agrees or disagrees and then that response is thrown out as news. The more knee jerk the response the more the press highlights it, making a huge story about nothing.

Who exactly is this 'they' who shoot first and examine the facts later? I cannot believe a senior police officer who excel in all aspects of his/her job and has attended diversity training is under investigation for saying this phrase. There is clearly much more going on here. I expect it will come out and possibly be reported in one line hidden away in the back of the paper.

Self identify. What a strange modern phrase. But yes allegations have to be investigated even if they sound ludicrous - like this one.

No lemongrove I do not think that is really true. Every organisation will have its procedures to follow if an allegation is made.

sunseeker we are all free to self identify ..but hard then for someone giving a talk as there will be several choices in a room! You can please some of the people some of the time.... do you think person of colour is more USA?

I was once in a meeting where discrimination was being discussed, the speaker kept referring to "people of colour", at the end of the discussion my friend commented by saying "I am not a person of colour - I am black".

Except PECS that with anything PC they shoot first and ask questions later.

Not read about the OP incident but as any person with an ounce of sense knows it is not WHAT you say that always matters but HOW you say it and in what CONTEXT and to whom!
There will be more to this than is reportable if action is being taken and a well respected senior officer is under investigation! Media know about it ..someone must have let them know! Sounds like anti PC mob to me! 'PC' is not a derogatory term imo..it is about equality and fairness. If something wrong has occurred it must be investigated... might turn out nothing was inappropriate. That is what an investigation is for!

lemon , ?

still laughing!