Restore Britain councillor issues legal threat after deputy leader questions online posts

Emily Price

A Restore Britain councillor has threatened a deputy council leader with legal action after she raised concerns about a series of online statements he made about asylum seekers and Islam.

Owain Clatworthy, a councillor in Bridgend’s Pyle, Kenfig Hill and Cefn Cribwr ward,  sent a letter to deputy council leader Jane Gebbie stating that attempts to remove him from a corporate parenting panel would be “met with the strongest possible resistance, including legal action”.

Cllr Clatworthy wrote: “My opinions on immigration, integration, and British values are lawful expressions of political speech.

“They are not extremism, they are mainstream concerns shared by millions.

“I suggest you stop wasting time on political vendettas and focus on the real issues facing Bridgend residents in your last 10 months before you and your colleagues are overwhelmingly voted out.”

It came after Bridgend Council’s leaders raised concerns about the “divisive” content being shared online by Cllr Clatworthy following his defection from Reform UK to Rupert Lowe’s party.

Cllr Gebbie raised particular concerns about Cllr Clatworthy’s presence on the corporate parenting committee because it requires councillors to act in the best interests of all children in the council’s care, including unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.

In a written response to Cllr Clatworthy addressing the threats of legal action, Cllr Gebbie argued that she had raised “legitimate concerns about governance, standards and the suitability of appointments to statutory roles” adding that this was “entirely proper” and fell within her responsibilities as a deputy council leader.

Asylum seekers

Cllr Clatworthy published a series of Facebook posts last week, including one in which he wrote: “Islam is not compatible with Western civilisation.”

In a separate letter to council leader John Spanswick about asylum seekers, the Restore councillor wrote: “I do not want these people in our area.”

The practising Christian published a further Facebook post stating: “Multiculturalism is a failure. The silent majority has had enough of the lies.”

He later claimed that Birmingham City Council’s Pakistani born Lord Mayor “starts council business with full Islamic prayer in the chamber”.

“Open displays of Islamic dominance in British local government. This is not integration. This is replacement,” Cllr Clatworthy said.

The footage he shared on Facebook was recorded during the Lord Mayor’s swearing-in ceremony in May 2026.

Blessing

During the event, a blessing was delivered in Arabic as part of a longstanding tradition that allows each incoming Lord Mayor to invite a religious leader of their chosen faith to offer a prayer at the start of their term of office.

Birmingham City Council does not begin all of its meetings with an Islamic prayer.

Several Bridgend councillors told Nation.Cymru they had sought to support Cllr Clatworthy following his election last year, recognising the challenges and vulnerabilities associated with having spent much of his childhood in the care system.

However some councillors are now raising serious concerns about whether the Restore councillor should serve on the council’s corporate parenting committee, to which he was recently appointed.

When Nation.Cymru approached Cllr Clatworthy last week for a response to these concerns, he did not reply.

Instead, he published private WhatsApp messages from the publication on Facebook, accompanied by a post criticising the enquiry.

‘Crime’

He later published a further post to Facebook stating: “Attempts are already underway to silence me.

“My crime? Speaking the truth about mass illegal immigration, failed integration, and the defence of British values in a Christian country.

“The left doesn’t have arguments anymore, they just try to silence you with slurs…..’racist’, ‘far right’, ‘divisive’.

“I don’t care what they call it. We’re taking our country back.”

Last year, Cllr Clatworthy made history when he became Bridgend’s youngest-ever county councillor at 20-years-old.

Standing for Reform UK, he won the seat by just 30 votes, narrowly defeating the Labour candidate.

It later emerged that weeks after his election, he had tried to join the council’s ruling Labour group, saying he couldn’t stand Nigel Farage.

Cllr Clatworthy was later unveiled as Reform’s sixth placed candidate for Pen-y-bont Bro Morgannwg ahead of the recent Senedd election, but resigned from the party following a dispute over its candidate selection process.

Although he initially said he intended to remain an independent councillor in Bridgend, insisting “it isn’t about politics, it’s about our community”, he later announced that he had joined Rupert Lowe’s party.