Reform UK councillor suspended over WhatsApp group featuring post calling for ‘mass Islam genocide’
A Reform England councilor has been suspended from Nigel Farage’s party over a WhatsApp group in which a member allegedly called for a “mass genocide of Islam”.
Tom Pickup, one of Reform’s leading councilors in Lancashire, is now facing an investigation.
One member of the group, thought to have been founded by a right-wing activist, saw Sir Keir Starmer’s message saying “he needs bullets”, while another replied: “He’s a DICKtator”.
Mr Pickup responded by calling the prime minister a “nonsense”: accordingly Guard.
In other messages, he reportedly called a government minister a “Ukrainian child abuser” and said he agreed to “mass deportations.”
Mr Pickup shared: “Everyone in Reformation is much tougher on immigration than is normally made public; we need to be tactical to get a majority government.”
Reformation England told Independent It was stated that Mr Pickup was suspended on Wednesday pending an investigation.
Mr. Pickup told Guard: “I don’t see 99 percent of what goes on in groups. Based on my involvement and what I see, I’m my usual playful self and this has been taken out of context.”
He said he was unaware of more extreme posts, including claims that one person urged others to stockpile weapons to attack “immigrants” and called for a “mass Islamic genocide.”
Mr Pickup added that his comment about Sir Keir was “facetious” and “poor judgement” and said he was leaving the group.
Asked if he supported calls for a “mass Islamic genocide”, Mr Pickup said: “Of course not. I’ve done a lot of community engagement work with the Islamic community. It’s something I would condemn and probably report, but I don’t know if they have.” [the messages] it is real. “I didn’t see them.”
He said he would not comment further Independent but he referred us to his comments Guard.
A Labor councilor at Lancashire County Council called on him to resign and said he had reported him to the authority’s standards watchdog.
Samara Barnes added: “We are in a dustbin era and if people say we should commit an Islamic genocide, that is domestic terrorism.
“We’ve seen what can happen when people become radicalized, when people are emboldened to do really bad things. This is beyond an apology or some education. This is more serious and Reform UK really needs to take a stand.”
