The Leicester Mercury says the complaints are believed to relate to emails Cllr Whitford sent to residents about flags being flown in his Markfield, Desford and Thornton ward:
In the emails ... Cllr Whitford claimed the people raising the flags were doing so to "reject" the "destruction of British values" amid an alleged "influx of soon to be millions of mainly Muslim men of fighting age". One recipient described the councillor's response as "flat out Islamophobic". ...
Cllr Whitford also claimed that immigrants were coming to make the UK a "Muslim state", leading to one of the residents accusing him of "whipping up hatred" with his words.
You can read Whitford's response to the complaints and to his removal from the cabinet – he feels he has been "stabbed in the back" and that Cllr Harrison "was out of line" and had "no right" to suspend him – in the Mercury report.
Whitford, who held the highways, transport and waste portfolio, becomes the third councillor to leave Reform UK's Leicestershire cabinet since it was appointed only six months ago.
No comments:
Post a Comment