Tory councillor in Muslim tweet row rejoins party
ACONSERVATIVE councillor suspended for sharing offensive and inflammatory anti-Muslim rants on social media has been readmitted 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.”
But Conservatives have confirmed he is now back in the party.
However, Councillor Potts, who represents Knowle, has not rejoined the Conservative group on the council and still sits as an independent.
But the decision to let him rejoin the party was condemned by Birmingham MP Khalid Mahmood (Lab, Perry Barr).
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.”
The decision to readmit Cllr Potts was taken by the local party.
Cllr Diana Holl-Allen, Chairman of Meriden Conservative Association, said: “As the chairman of the Meriden Association, I can con- firm that Jeff Potts has been reinstated as a member of the Conservative Party.”
Comments retweeted by Cllr 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’.”
One tweet shared by Cllr 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.”
Cllr Potts did not make any of these comments himself. He retweeted the comments after they were made by other people.
In September, Cllr Potts told the Post he did not share or support the comments. He said it was a “freedom of speech issue”.
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.”