A Conservative Party councillor who was suspended for sharing anti-Muslim rants on social media has been re-admitted to the party.
Solihull Borough Council’s Jeff Potts was suspended after retweeting comments such as: “Deport and repatriate all Muslims from the UK or watch terrorists kill innocent people for generations to come.”
The decision to re-admit Coun Potts was taken by the local party.
Councillor Diana Holl-Allen, Chairman of Meriden Conservative Association, said: “As the chairman of the Meriden Association, I can confirm that Jeff Potts has been reinstated as a member of the Conservative Party.”
The decision to let him re-join the party was condemned by Birmingham MP Khalid Mahmood.
He said: “The Tories have let Jeff Potts off the hook, showing just how little they care about Islamophobia. We should never allow hatred to rear its ugly head, let alone allow elected officials to promote them.”
Comments retweeted by Coun Potts before his suspension included: “You’ve clearly not experienced the Pakistani hospitality, having a daughter raped by men who think she’s ‘white trash’.”
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One Tweet shared by Coun Potts showed an image of Germany apparently transformed into an Islamic state, with a Berlin city sign written in Arabic, German Chancellor Angela Merkel wearing a headscarf and the crescent and star image associated with Islam above the Bundestag, the German parliament.
Text accompanying the image read: “Many ‘leaders’ of Western European Countries treat Islamic Culture as a FACT of Life that Europeans MUST get used to!”
Another Tweet linked to a news report about a rape case, with the words: “The vile rapists were 3 Muslim men (imagine my surprise) and an unnamed boy.”
In September, Coun Potts told BirminghamLive he did not share or support the comments.
A spokesperson for the Muslim Council of Britain said: “It is truly astonishing that the Conservative Party appears to have welcomed back Mr Potts despite him sharing disgusting Islamophobic bigotry including calling for the deportation of all Muslims from the UK.
“If true, one has to wonder whether Brandon Lewis’ 4-step plan to stamp out anti-Muslim bigotry was merely a public relations exercise. This demonstrates once again that there has to be an independent inquiry into Islamophobia in the Party.”
