In recent weeks Nigel Farage has been raising concerns about his own safety and the safety of elected officials. In the wake of the horrifying murders of Jo Cox, David Amess and Ann Widdecombe, it’s absolutely right that all politicians should be careful about the words they use. But when we told Reform UK that one of its councillors called for a member of parliament to be hanged, Farage’s party didn’t respond.
Back in May, David Rowan became a Reform councillor in Kirklees. HOPE not hate has found a social media account belonging to him and the evidence is damning.
In October 2019, Rowan called for John Bercow – then Speaker of the House of Commons – to be hanged. In response to a post about Bercow, Rowan wrote: “Hang the Dwarf”.
The previous month, Rowan had shared a picture of Parliament with a sign outside it saying, “Gunpowder Deliveries First Right,” and told his followers that “we should get our pick forks [sic] and whippets and demolish London” and turn Westminster into a Wetherspoons.
Rowan also appears to be homophobic, having said he doesn’t believe “gays should have kids full stop”.
On top of all that, the Reform councillor seems to have been a fan of the anti-Muslim extremist Stephen Lennon (aka Tommy Robinson). Rowan wrote in July 2019: “Thommy [sic] Robinson I salute you for caring”.
HOPE not hate asked Reform whether it would be taking any action against Rowan, but the party didn’t respond.
Rowan isn’t the first Kirklees Reform councillor to come under the spotlight for the wrong reasons. Tracy Clayton, who represents the Colne Valley West ward in Kirklees, promoted a slew of hateful posts on X (formerly Twitter).
She remains in Reform despite having repeatedly shared posts by Tommy Robinson, reposted and agreed with anti-Muslim comments on social media, and called climate change “a hoax”.
Other Kirklees councillors who remain in Reform include Stephan Dransfield, who wrote that a video of an Asian man being punched aggressively in the face was “very satisfying”, and Eric Butterworth, who reposted an image with text reading, “From the English Channel to the North Sea, Make England ISLAM-FREE,” and responded to a video showing a black man covered in milk by commenting: “I guess he’s just trying to get white”.
Reform should expel Rowan from the party. But given its failure to take action against Clayton, Dransfield and Butterworth, we’re not holding our breath.
Prefer to listen? Click the play button to hear the audio version. Harry Shukman Reform UK is staffed by oddballs and enigmas, but none odder…
