Lord Mancroft, the outspoken hereditary peer, stirred up a hornet's nest when he accused nurses at the Royal United Hospital in Bath of being "grubby, drunken and promiscuous", during a debate in the House of Lords. Despite initially not naming the hospital, the name quickly emerged in the media, apparently identified by the Royal College of Nursing, whose chief executive Peter Carter dubbed Mancroft "grossly unfair" for issuing a "sexist insult about the behaviour of British women" (Evening Standard, 29 Feb). Labour Health minister, Ann Keen, joined in the condemnation saying "the entire country holds nurses in the highest regard" (Times, 1 March). The Sun described the "devastated staff" at RUH as "hard-working angels" (1 March).
Conservative leader David Cameron moved quickly to distance himself from the Tory peer, asking Lord Strathclyde to issue a rebuke, but Mancroft was unrepentant "I will meet the chief executive of the RUH in Bath if that's what he wants but I won't be apologising" (Mail on Sunday, 2 March). The peer, who was identified as a former heroin user in a number of media sources, accused Cameron of getting involved in the row "because his PR people have told him to do so" (Mail on Sunday, 2 March).