TORY MP Boris Johnson will visit Liverpool this week to apologise in person for his comments about the "victim status" of its people..
He had used the editorial column of The Spectator magazine he edits to attack Liverpudlians' reaction to the Iraq hostage drama of Walton engineer Ken Bigley and also to the Hillsborough disaster where 96 football fans died.
Mr Johnson said he was travelling to the city in a "spirit of complete humility" to apologise in person for the offence caused.
The MP for Henley-on-Thames admitted he had received a "tremendous kick in the pants" from Conservative leader Michael Howard.
He said: "I have been stunned by the hurt this article has caused. I will be going as soon as I can to apologise in person for the offence I have caused, and to listen in a spirit of complete humility to local people."
The shamefaced shadow minister for the arts had been ordered by Mr Howard to visit the city after the article accused Liverpudlians of "wallowing" in their "victim status".
Mr Howard had earlier distanced himself from the article describing it as "nonsense from beginning to end".
Leader of Liverpool council Mike Storey said the comments were particularly insensitive given that Mr Bigley's body had not yet been found in Iraq.
Cllr Storey said: " What he's done he's done. People here will just not want to bother with him. Although he's apologised, I hope it's sincere or is it just because he wants to preserve the credibility of the Tory Party?"
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