A Tory councillor has been suspended by the Conservative Party after Islamophobic and racist comments were posted on a Facebook group he moderates.
Conservative councillor in Wellingborough, Martyn York, was a moderator on the “Boris Johnson: Supporters’ Group”, which included comments calling for mosques to be bombed in the UK.
The group has 4,800 members and you can only join after receiving approval from moderators.
The group’s guidelines states that members should not to post hate speech.
However, comments posted on the group violated these rules, with several referring to Muslims as “ragheads” and calling immigrants “cockroaches”.
In one comment, the mayor of London Sadiq Khan is called a “conniving little muzrat”, and Muslim Labour MP Naz Shah is also abused and told to “p*** off to [her] own country”.
Dorinda Bailey, a former Tory council candidate, has also been accused of promoting Islamophobia with her reply following a post in the group calling for the bombing of mosques.
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After a member posted that any mosques “found to preach hate” should be shut down, another user commented: “Bomb the f****** lot.”
Ms Bailey said: “I agree, but any chance you could edit your comment please. No swearing policy.”
There were also comments in the group telling an African solider to “p*** off back to Africa” and for Labour MP Fiona Onasanya to be “put on a banana boat back home”.
After the Islamophobic and racist posts were highlighted, Conservative Party chairman Brandon Lewis confirmed on Twitter that Mr York had been suspended and said Ms Bailey was no longer a member of the party.
