Politics
Reform candidate said 'powerful Jews' want ‘third-world Muslims’ to come to UK
Farage faces calls to suspend candidate after his conspiratorial comments
June 23, 2024 12:23
Farage faces calls to suspend candidate after his conspiratorial comments
June 23, 2024 12:23"Powerful Jews" are “agitating” to import “third-world Muslims” into Britain, a Reform UK candidate has alleged on social media.
The candidate for Bournemouth West, Ben Aston, claimed that Jews were planning to organise Muslim migration into Britain and that the UK government was “injecting” Britain with African men.
According to the Times, on a now-deleted X/Twitter account, Aston, 43, commented on a post in October that said, “how are Jews meant to feel safe in the UK?”.
Aston replied: “These endless takes from Jews are horrendous. Many of the powerful groups agitating for the mass import into England of Muslims from the Third World are Jewish. The resultant societal problems have been visible for decades.”
A keen cyclist, Aston had previously used his X account, @ldnparks, to advocate for cyclists’ rights in London.
Using the account, Aston replied to a post criticising the use of the Bibby Stockholm barge.
He wrote: “They are currently doing [this] all over England. Injecting large numbers (eg. ~ 80 per hotel) of illegal African economic migrant men into provincial English communities. This is a concerted and deliberate effort.”
On another occasion, Aston posted an old video of a red bus in London and added: “Native Brits displaced by millions of immigrants, imported on the altar of GDP”.
Party leader Nigel Farage is facing mounting pressure to remove the candidate over the comments which he posted on social media last year.
Sir Conor Burns served as the Conservative MP for Bournemouth West from 2010 until the election was called. He has written to Farage demanding Aston’s suspension.
“These comments are antisemitic and hugely offensive,” he wrote. “Decent people will be repelled by them. Reform are raising totally legitimate issues and I find myself in some sympathy with some of them. However, Aston is clearly a nasty bigot.
“I have known Nigel Farage for almost three decades and know he will have no truck with them. He can act decisively and suspend his candidate, condemn his remarks and urge his supporters not to vote for Aston in Bournemouth West.”
The previous candidate for the seat, Peter Storms, was removed last month after he was accused of sharing online posts from far-right group, Britain First.
In a statement shared with the Times, Reform UK said its candidates “have views of their own and are as free to express them as anyone else, even if they are not shared by all their party colleagues”.
“Ultimately, they are responsible to the electorates of their constituencies, who are perfectly capable of making up their own minds.
“Meanwhile, millions of people want journalists to discuss the policies and ideas that will fix Broken Britain, not indulge in juvenile gotcha politics, every time they find a comment or a ‘like’ — often from many years ago — that happens to horrify their London liberal sensibilities.”