A charity dinner was held in 1995 near Manchester to raise funds for the police. One entertainer invited was Bernard Manning, one of the standup comedians who do the rounds of working men’s clubs in Northern England and notorious for his anti-ethnic jokes.

The dinner was attended by some 300 policemen – all white except for one black officer. Targeting this single black man, Bernard launched into a string of racist jibes. His audience (yes, the police audience) all whooped with delight and cheered him on. Here’s a sample of the jibes reported in News of the World (April 1995):

“Where is he? How are you, baby? Having a night out with nice people? Isn’t this better than swinging from the trees? – You’re black, I’m white. Do you think colour makes a difference? You bet your bollocks it does!”

“They actually think they’re English because they are born here. That means if a dog’s born in a stable, it is horse.”

“They used to be happy people in the cotton fields, singing their bollocks off day and night. A fella used to go around with a whip… ‘Oh, massa, give us another crack of dat whip. I love dat whip’…”

“A Liverpool docker went to South Africa for a job. The boss tells him: ‘It’s people like you we want here. Here’s a test. There’s a revolver, go out and shoot 6 niggers and a rabbit.’ The docker asks: ‘Why do I have to shoot the rabbit?’ He got the job.”

The occasion raised £28,000 for police charities. Said former Liverpool Council leader (Derek Hutton), a dinner guest: “The fact it was a police dinner makes it all the more disgusting… The black guy could do little about it. He had this embarrassed grin on his face. But the police officers loved it. They were standing on the chairs clapping and cheering…Just think, next morning some of them would be patrolling the Moss Side area (which has a large black population)…” Labour MP Terry Rooney said he would ask the Home Secretary to investigate, adding that “these men are defenders of the public… it shows that racist attitudes are still prevalent in the force…”

Characteristically, the victim’s own reaction was not reported. Instead the offender offered to speak for the victim and reconstruct his experience. Said Manning: “That (black) constable enjoyed every minute of it. It certainly wasn’t in bad taste.”

Writer and broadcaster Barry Cryer said: "The thing about Bernard was that he looked funny, he sounded funny and he had excellent timing. It was just what he actually said that could be worrying."

Another comedian, Stan Boardman, said that all he did "was take the mickey", which was "the British sense of humour".

A bit of background:

"Comic Stan Boardman, 61, (left) was hired by Leeds United football club to entertain guests at the club’s awards dinner. At the dinner were players Bowyer and Woodgate who were alleged to have assaulted Asian student Sarfraz Najeib in January 2001 outside a nightclub.

Said Boardman: “I see Woodgate and Bowyer are here tonight. I hear they went out to a club last night. When they came out, one said: I would murder an Indian.”

An Asian guest, Steven Thomas, supporter of Leeds United, called him a disgrace and told him to go back to Liverpool. Boardman hit back: “F****** hell. I am being heckled by Pakis now. Why don’t you go back to your curry house or shop in Bradford? Your elephant’s waiting outside.”

( http://www.goacom.org/overseas-digest/Race%20(UK)/jibes.html)