RIGHT WHINGER
Blackface UKIP candidate with links to Scottish neo-Nazis declares himself a Tory then bleats - I take a hardline stance against racists
A UKIP candidate embroiled in a “blacking up” row claims he’s joined the Tories – despite links to a leading member of a banned extreme far right group.
Jack Neill stood for Ukip in Gordon Brown’s old seat of Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath at the 2015 general election.
But he now says he is a member of the Scottish Conservatives and we can reveal he was a friend of Ruaidhri McKim of outlawed neo-Nazis Scottish Dawn.
We’ve obtained photos of Neill with McKim, who we secretly filmed earlier this year revealing Scottish Dawn’s links to the banned neo-Nazi group National Action during a probe with investigative website The Ferret.
The UK Government banned Scottish Dawn last week, calling them “a vile racist, homophobic and antisemitic group who glorify violence and stir up hatred while promoting their poisonous ideology”.
Neill was given a key role when former Ukip leader Nigel Farage and the party’s ex-Scottish leader David Coburn launched the party’s Holyrood manifesto at an Edinburgh hotel in April last year.
He was also at the centre of controversy last year amid allegations of racism after a photograph emerged of him wearing a clown nose with his face blacked up.
The picture was condemned by race equality campaigners but Neill denied allegations of racism.
Earlier this month, Neill made headlines again after an incident at George Square in Glasgow during a pro-independence rally.
He and another man were allegedly assaulted for flying a Union Flag.
About 1500 people gathered in George Square for the Hope Over Fear event to remember the 2014 Scottish independence referendum.
Neill is also the administrator of a pro-Union Facebook page called Union Jackers.
On May 3, he shared the page with a group called Conservative Future Edinburgh and posted: “I am a proud member of the Conservative Party, based in Fife. I am looking to get more actively involved, so please let me know if I can help out with action days. I am also the admin of a pro-Union page called ‘UnionJackers’, so come and give us a like if you want?”
On May 4, Neill urged people to vote Conservative. He wrote: “Vote for change, vote for Scotland, vote for Britain, vote for unity, vote Conservative.” However, the Scottish Conservatives have said Neill is not a party member.
When asked about his links to McKim and whether he had ever been a member of Scottish Dawn or National Action, Neill said: “I used to know Ruaidhri through UKIP as we were part of the youth wing in Scotland.
“When I found out he was a Nazi, I disassociated myself from him. As a mixed race man myself, I take a hardline stance against racists. There’s no place for racism in our modern, progressive and forward-thinking society. Thank you.”
A spokesman for the Scottish Conservatives said: “I’ve checked and he’s not a member of the party. Were he to apply, we wouldn’t accept him either in light of this.”
Last week, Tory Home Secretary Amber Rudd announced that Scottish Dawn would be banned under terror laws. These put the neo-Nazi group alongside banned terrorist organisations such as Isis and the IRA.
Rudd said National Action had been trying to get round their ban last December by changing their name to Scottish Dawn and NS131 (National Socialist Anti-Capitalist Action).
The ban means being a member of – or inviting support for – either group, carries a sentence of up to 10 years in jail.
There’s no place for racism in our modern, forward-thinking society JACK NEILL