Senior Brexit Party official ‘defended’ far-Right’s Robinson

NIGEL Farage was forced to distance himself from one of his senior party officials last night after it was claimed he had defended Tommy Robinson and suggested Islamophobia was ‘made up’.

Noel Matthews, the Brexit Party’s national election agent, was said to have posted an article sympathetic to the far-Right activist last year, writing: ‘Tommy Robinson Drew Attention to Grooming Gangs. Britain Has Persecuted Him.’ This February, according to Buzzfeed News, he also praised a rally organised by Robinson at the BBC, saying: ‘Tommy’s no politician but it looks like he has the BBC bang to rights.’

Meanwhile, in 2017 he wrote that ‘Islamophobia is a silly, made up word’ and said: ‘Poor old Islamophobia. Used to be the best excuse for closing down the debate until those others came along.’ The

remarks appear to contradict Mr Farage’s claims that his new party is ‘deeply intolerant of all intolerance’. When he quit Ukip last year, Mr Farage blamed its obsession with Robinson and Islam.

Mr Matthews is the third senior Brexit Party official found to have posted offensive comments online. Its founder, Catherine Blaiklock, was accused of having made a series of anti-Muslim comments and later resigned as leader. Treasurer Michael McGough also quit after anti-Semitic Facebook posts were uncovered. A Brexit Party spokesman said: ‘The party does not condone or endorse any of these views. Noel Matthews was tweeting in a personal capacity before his involvement in the Brexit Party. His views do not represent those of the party or its leader.’

It came as Mr Farage said he had been prevented from meeting Donald Trump during the President’s state visit next month. Downing Street said the claim was ‘nonsense’.