Councillor in Black Lives Matter row
‘Life time criminal, high on drugs’ post investigated by Tory party
THE Conservative Party head office is investigating a social media post from a Havant councillor, who said that the Black Lives Matter movement commemorates a ‘life time criminal, high on drugs’.
Councillor Ken Smith, who has served on Havant Borough Council for more than 15 years, made the comment on Facebook while watching the England vs Scotland rugby game earlier this month.
The Conservative politician and former mayor posted: 'Why are all the Scottish players taking the knee?
'Can it really be to commemorate the life time criminal, high on drugs, who was inadvertently killed four thousand miles away in America?'
Sportspeople around the world have taken to kneeling before events in solidarity with the BLM Movement, which instigated widespread protests over the death of George Floyd last year
Emails seen by The News show that a fellow Conservative councillor had labelled the comment ‘very inappropriate’ and ‘racially insensitive’, with the Havant Conservative Association confirming that several individuals had raised concerns about the social media post.
Cllr Smith has defended his characterisation of the BLM movement, while saying he is ‘never racial or critical of other nations’.
The 80-year-old said: ‘It was all motivated by the Black Lives Matter organisation.
‘It’s not just a means of paying homage to the person who died, it’s actually a nasty group of left-wing extremists who are exploiting this, and a lot of people are doing the taking-the-knee thing and they don’t know what it’s about.
‘People have jumped on the bandwagon – troublemakers, I’m talking about - and are using the kneeling as way of causing alarm and dissent, I really believe that.
‘I truly believe that sports and politics should not go together.
‘People should be grown up and discuss these issues, without getting hysterical about it.’
Cllr Smith says he encouraged the council’s first black councillor, Frida Edwards, to stand for office and canvassed for her election.
The former aerospace consultant said: ‘No one has any grounds to call me colour prejudiced in any way.
‘In 30 years of business I have visited and done business with every country in the world, except China, South America, and Myanmar.
‘I get Christmas cards from Muslims, and Buddhists, and Jewish people, because I am never, ever racial or critical of other nations.’
Cllr Smith was briefly suspended from the Conservative party in 2019, after liking a comment that said London Mayor Sadiq Khan put ‘his religion before his country and countrymen’ and was a ‘disgrace to London and our nation’.
The chairman of the Havant Conservative Association, Edward Rees, said that several people had raised concerns about the comment.
He said: ‘Concerns were raised about Councillor Smith’s social media post and these was passed on to Conservative Campaign Headquarters.
‘A number of individuals raised concerns. As soon as someone raises concerns, we pass it up the ladder.’
The Conservative Party’s head office is yet to respond to the association regarding the comment. It also did not respond to inquiries from