Councillor suspended from Tory Party denies making Islamophobic facebook posts

County councillor Paul Messenger

A Conservative county councillor representing Ramsgate says he has been “completely wiped out” by allegations that he posted Islamophobic remarks on social media.

Paul Messenger has been suspended from the Tory Party pending an investigation over the posts, said to have been made in 2013.

The investigation means he is no longer eligible to stand in the May local elections for the party.

Posts that have been highlighted include one that says: “Let’s not fool ourselves here; The Muslim Communities living in Britain would like to see the whole country Muslim. Whether this is achieved by violent or stealth – they would prefer this – it’s natural and you could argue within their rights to do this.

“After some considerable thought I have come up with this suggestion – given that MI5 have to commit considerable resources Into the protection and prevention of ‘home grown’ Islamic threat far more than when the IRA were doing their worst to us, then I believe the peaceful British Islamic Society should pay for this extra cost.”

‘Expressly deny’

Mr Messenger denied making the posts, saying he believes they have been created in a bid to target him. He said: “These are not my feelings. I voted to Remain, I think immigration is a good thing for the country. I expressly deny I wrote the post about Muslims. Someone has obviously spent a lot of time on this. I have never had to deal with this kind of onslaught before.

“I do not hold these views. I may have had more open views about immigration in 2013/14 but not now and I have never held any racist views.

“This has completely destroyed me.”

Suspension

The suspension notification was sent out by Conservative HQ on Wednesday although an address error meant Mr Messenger was not alerted until Friday.

The HQ email says any ‘criminality’ may also be reported by the party. Complainants have made screenshots of the offending posts,

Call for expulsion

Kent Anti-Racism Network (KARN) is calling for Mr Messenger to be expelled from the party.

A KARN spokesperson said: “Views such as those (allegedly) expressed by Paul Messenger cannot be tolerated, and we are calling on local people to write to the South and North Thanet Conservative Associations to demand Paul Messenger’s resignation.”

Labour county councillor Karen Constantine branded the posts as “Islamaphobic, racist and utterly deplorable,” saying Mr Messenger should now ‘consider his suitability for office.”

A North Thanet Conservative Association said the organisation “ is aware of this complaint and the matter is being fully investigated.”

27 Comments

    • Thought we would have a quote from Corbyn’s stooge in Thanet. Regrettable comments from Cllr Messenger but maybe Labour instead of throwing stones should look to its own Anti Semitism issues? Take it Cllr Constantine you are supporting Rebecca Gordon – Nesbitt In her fight to be reinstated as the Labour candidate for Thanet South or does Jeremy and your Union chums want you as the chosen one?

        • The Labour party are literally being investigated by the equalities and human rights commission for their hateful antisemitic ideology. An ideology that is deeply ingrained into the psyche of the Labour party. You call the Torys the nasty party but happily ignore the reality of the modern hateful Labour party. The shameful organisation, led by a charlatan.

          • Anonymous writing how brave of you!
            Your nasty party is finally being exposed for its institutional racism, no amount of deflection/lies/blaming labour will cover you any more.
            what a lovely job your party has been doing with Brexit, you must be so proud of your leader Theresa May!. Austerity is going so well! the NHS, the Police, Homeless People, Schools, those in poverty,those on benefits, Refugees, Muslims all being attacked by your party, but you don’t care you will continue to blame others for your failings so i will not waste my breath any longer goodbye coward

    • Will either Craig Mackinlay or Roger Gale have the gumption, backbone and decency to condemn Paul Messenger’s vile racist comments?

    • You’re right it could take a while! Recently, at a RAG meeting local South Thanet Conservative Association member Martin Wise was heard boasting about what a great TDC Leader his former colleague Sandy Ezekial was, presumably prior to being jailed for fraud.

      Jonathan Aitkin MP was jailed for perjury (also supplied prostitutes to Saudi arms dealers). Cllr. Cyril Hoser was jailed for forgery and more recently Karen Constantine was caught flogging charity donations intended for the homeless in a pub to raise funds for her KCC campaign. Paul Messenger is the latest in a long line of deplorables! We deserve better!

  1. One cannot discuss anything with anyone about any group of people unless one wants to risked being called a racist or anti this or anti that. However the fact that one is not wise to say anything negative about such groups does not stop people thinking negatively about those groups. When along comes an outlet for expressing ones view we end up having far right activist releasing pent up frustration that has been an undercurrent for a long time and acts like a champagne cork popping out of a bottle that could lead to unrest and ill feelings in communities.

  2. This guy’s been spewing crap online for a long time. Totally baffled who he ever to to be in a position of power, the guy is at best a fool but really quite a nasty piece of work.

  3. So he is claiming that somebody hacked his social media account in 2019 & somehow managed to create fake posts from 2013, just to discredit a County Councillor most people have never heard of until this? Seems very unlikely.

  4. Irrespective, this is a man who couldn’t even vote to refer the stroke unit back, he abstained instead. This is a councillor with no intent of supporting Ramsgate. If he’s not abstaining from the stroke unit for unfathomable reasons none of us can understand, he’s a pro RSP supporter of a dirty old cargo plan over our harbour at 400 feet every 5 minutes day and night. Thanet deserves better. We deserve genuine representation. Thanet is a decent, diverse area with a brilliant local community.

  5. I think you’ll find that the “someone hacked my social media account” is an excuse used by schoolkids who can’t face up to their responsibilities.

  6. Perhaps Labour supporters should not be throwing stones in glass houses. Labour is also dealing with racism within its own party. Labour also allowed the historic child sex abuse by mainly Muslim men to continue for fear of losing ethnic minority voters. The race card is brandished all too easily by Labour supporters for cheap votes and then hidden when it suits them.

  7. The Labour Party is being smeared because it has been honest about the problem of prejudice throughout Britain, including in the Labour Party. At least the Labour Party is taking robust action to deal with the problem of anti-semitism in its ranks and , in fact, may well be overdoing it in its determination to root it out, even suspending perfectly innocent members just in case.
    The issue for the Tories is that they struggle to admit the levels of racist belief in their ranks, partly because they benefit from racists voting for them. When UKIP’s votes collapsed, most just went back to voting Tory.
    As for Labour “covering up” child sex abuse by Muslim men, the last time I looked child sexual abuse is a problem for men in ALL religions and none , and in ALL political Parties, and none. Was Jimmy Saville a Muslim? How about Cyril Smith? Who knew that Church of England bishops and vicars were secret Muslims while they were abusing children? Spreading anti -muslim smears , as if all muslims can be regarded as all the same, is what contributed to the massacre in New Zealand. Because lumping everybody of a certain race or religion together , and then blaming them all for society’s problems , is lazy, and nasty thinking.

  8. Messenger is an ignorant child in clown’s clothing. Let’s get rid of all the corrupt politicians in Thanet (it might take a while) – we deserve so much more

  9. To keefogs , you have obviously forgotten Rotherham, look it up it might enlighten you about the Labour Party and it’s part in covering up child abuse to keep miinority votes. I was not labelling all Muslims as sex offenders as you have claimed. Once again a Labour supporter is playing the race card incorrectly.

  10. ‘Concerned’ you are talking racist nonsense. It’s not mainly Muslim men who committed historic child sex abuse, it’s men from all walks of life. Was Jimmy Saville a muslim? I think not. There has been some highly visible reporting of muslim sex gangs, but the majority of cases involve white English males. Check your facts before spewing such bile.

  11. To very concerned, my point was that Labour actively hid child abuse for fear of upsetting their Muslim voters, not once did I say that all Muslim men are sex offenders. Once again you have just proved my point that Labour supporters are blinkered and the racism argument is a tactic for gaining votes and suppressing discussion. Please read things more carefully before you make yourself look more ignorant.

  12. ‘Concerned’, I’ve re-read your original comment and agree that your point was aimed towards Labour. However the linking of Muslim men to child abuse in the way you did DOES promote a racist viewpoint. And you have no idea of my voting history and/or voting intention, so your statement that Labour supporters are blinkered etc is itself completely baseless and ignorant. Please read things more carefully.

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