Eric Kitson, a new locally elected Councillor from the UK Independence Party, has resigned following a scandal in which he posted offensive materials on his Facebook page. He admits to the postings but denies suggestions of racism.
Kitson released the following statement following his resignation. "It is with sadness that I am announcing my resignation as a councillor. I am extremely sorry to have let down my friends, the people in the hardworking UKIP team that got me elected, the people of Stourport-on-Severn who gave me the honour of electing, and of course my family. Like many people who are not professional politicians, I used my Facebook page as a general post board. That was foolish. I am no racist, but I can understand why people could think so."
UKIP has made great strides in the last few years, emerging as a credible 3rd party in Britain. But with rapid growth in support has come similar expansion in active membership. That means a few people have come through the cracks that either hold views considered extreme by most members, or have not developed the sophistication to present views properly – as appears to be the case here.
The party chairman Steve Crowther said “We believe that Mr. Kitson is an honest man who has made, by his own admission, some serious mistakes, by posting or reposting offensive material on his Facebook page which he should never have associated himself with. He regrets this enormously, and rightly so. His decision to resign is, under the circumstances, the right one. UKIP deplores racism or religious intolerance in any form, and this is a stark demonstration that people who are careless, unthinking or foolishly provocative in their online activity can both give great offence to others and severely damage themselves. Mr Kitson's membership of the party will be considered by the NEC, who will take into account the outcome of the police investigation now under way.”
The reality is that many reasonably minded people are guilty of this in one form or another. A significant percentage of our online world forwards and reposts stories, pictures, cartoons etc. that others may find offensive. Sometimes we can see the humour in things that at the same time carry a negative or even abusive tone. Deciding to share things that maybe do not represent how we would act, requires tact and forethought.
Kitson is in full retreat publicly, but to some extent he believes the things that he posted and in some respects he is correct. In particular, elements of Islam are causing crisis in British society and around the world, and need to be addressed in a very firm way. Some of his postings starkly illustrate that. But UKIP is wary of being labeled as racially or religiously intolerant, taking care to distance themselves from extreme groups like the BNP and English Democrats.
Predictably, opposition groups have piled on. Councillor Peter McDonald, leader of Worcestershire’s Labour group, said: “These remarks are disgusting and it brings the whole office of being a councillor into disrepute. It’s a terrible mess, he has let himself down, the council down, and the voters who elected him in down – they did not vote for this. It’s terribly sad and pretty shocking what he has done – this man is now an elected councillor.”
Mumshad Ahmed, a Muslim and a former county councillor said: “I am sickened and disgusted by this, I cannot believe the hatred he is creating. I will be taking a petition around mosques tonight to get people to sign it, this man is doing something very dangerous – when a Koran was burned there were riots around the world. I cannot see why he’s done this.”
The Labour response is politically appropriate and predictable. The comments of Mr. Ahmed go beyond. Kitson is hardly creating hatred, he reposted decade’s old fury. That there are riots when a Koran is burned is not reasonable. The fact that Ahmed calls an angry responder the problem shows his own denial in recognizing the mayhem Islam causes in the first place.
The most hypocritical thing about the whole affair is that if these same comments / postings had been made about Christianity it would have been no big deal. Burning Bibles – so what! Christians push their faith on us – too many can’t wait to agree. Bible thumpers make me uncomfortable – amen to that, I mean well yes.
You're allowed to say what you like about Christians, Israel, George W Bush, and it's all just free speech. But post the wrong things about one of the ‘protected species’ and there’s hell to pay and a hate crime charge to answer. Kitson should have used more wisdom and for that he probably shouldn’t be in politics. But legitimate voices of opposition like UKIP will not remain so if they can be pushed around too easily.
