The leader of Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party has been forced to resign after Islamophobic comments she posted on social media were discovered.
Catherine Blaiklock quit on Wednesday, just two months after she set up the party with the former UKIP leader, who went on to represent the group in the European Parliament.
The offensive comments, which were discovered by journalists on Twitter, included a post which said Islam was a ‘threat’ to most of society and was ‘incompatible with liberal democracy’.
One of the former Ukip economics spokeswoman’s tweets read: ‘Islam = submission – mostly to raping men it seems.’
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She was also found to have retweeted comments from far-right figures, including a post by Mark Collett – a former British National Party activist (BNP) – which referred to ‘white genocide’.
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According to The Guardian, another tweet from December 2017, recounted an experience of being at a north London tube station.
It read: ‘8 people waiting for lift, 5 Muslim girls, 1 black, 1 other Asian Chinese, 1 white. Immediately outside saw a drug deal take place. Looked like Turkey.’
Another said: ‘Islam – Threat to women, gays, whites, non-Muslims, Blacks, Indians, Chinese – aggression to everyone but themselves.’
It is understood she took the decision to stand down in response to the newly-discovered online comments.
In a bid to defend herself, the MP claimed the comments were ‘out-of-character’.
In a resignation statement, Blaiklock said her role had been successful in ‘working with Nigel Farage… to set the party up and register it with the Electoral Commission’.
‘The out-of-character comments that I made on social media some time ago were unacceptable in tone and content,’ she continued.
‘After speaking to Nigel Farage, I realise that my comments fall well short of what is expected in any walk of life.
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‘I have accordingly tendered my resignation as party leader.’
Anti-racism campaigners Hope Not Hate, who helped unearth the since-deleted posts, celebrated her resignation.
Campaign director Matthew McGregor said: ‘Blaiklock’s abhorrent racist social media posts reveal the true nature of Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party: new branding, same old nasty underbelly’.
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