Welsh UKIP candidate makes obnoxious comments about gays, Muslims and Vaughan Gething

A United Kingdom Independence Party candidate has been strongly condemned for liking a social media post that referred to gay people as “pervs” and referring on a Facebook video site to London’s Muslim Mayor Sadiq Khan as a rat.

Stan Robinson will be standing for UKIP in Llanelli. He also runs the far-right webcast known as the Voice of Wales with convicted fraudster Dan Morgan. In his latest video he also makes racist slurs against First Minister Vaughan Gething.

A Llanelli Labour source, who wanted to remain anonymous out of concern that they would otherwise be victimised, said: ‘To like such repugnant comments is a foul slur on the character of many gay people who have to live with hatred and prejudice.

“Such bile and bigotry is unbecoming in a general election candidate.

“Stan Robinson should hang his head in shame and stand down before voting on July 4.

‘Not content with stirring a festering pot of ignorance and inhumanity towards minorities, Stan seems to be making a direct attempt to attack our Labour candidate, Dame Nia Griffith, whose behaviour is beyond reproach.

‘Let’s hope the good people of Llanelli send out the right signal on polling day and show his views hold no sway and that Llanelli is a tolerant and welcoming community for all regardless of sexual orientation.’

Lesbian

Dame Nia, who has represented Llanelli as its MP since 2005, came out as a lesbian in 2016, commenting that her sexuality had been known among friends, family and colleagues since the mid-1990s.

The Labour source added: “UKIP should kick Stan Robinson out of their party for the disgusting rabble-rousing hate speech on Facebook where he declares that the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, a Muslim, is a rat. That is clearly prejudiced and virulently racist.

“Stan and his sidekick Dan Morgan are revelling and laughing while mocking minorities on their Voice of Wales Facebook site. This amounts to inciting hatred and should not be permitted in a civilised society. The offensive material should be immediately removed by Facebook.

“In Scotland such comments would be classed as a hate crime. In England and Wales it can be an offence to stir up hatred on the grounds of race, religion and sexual orientation. In the past few days Robinson, who is UKIP’s spokesman for Wales, has, in my view, blatantly breached all three guidelines. It seems to me the man has no moral standing and is in the gutter.”

Reasoned debate

The row comes days after William Powell, who is the Liberal Democrat candidate for Monmouthshire, called on all candidates in Wales to be calm and engage in reasoned debate.

He backed the Jo Cox Foundation’s “Civility Pledge” and urged others to do so too.

Mr Powell, who is a councillor in Powys, said:”’In recent years, notably since the advent of Brexit, Donald Trump and with increasing levels of political interference from Vladimir Putin and other foreign actors, our politics have become increasingly embittered.

“This relates not only to social media and campaign literature, but also to the shrill tone of voice often heard and the implied violence and intimidation in what passes for political debate.

“On two occasions in the last eight years this ‘hate speak’ has spilt over into lethal violence, with the cold blooded murder of former Labour MP Jo Cox at the hands of a right wing extremist, and the assassination of Conservative MP Sir David Ames by an Islamist terrorist.”

Mr Powell has signed the three- point pledge, promoted by the Jo Cox Foundation, established in memory of the young Labour MP, following her murder during the 2016 Referendum campaign. He has also written to fellow candidates, urging them also to sign the pledge.

The Civility Pledge includes three related promises:

* I pledge to use a civil and constructive tone in political debate’

* Act with integrity, honresty and compassion; and

* Behave respectfully towards others including those I disagree with.

‘Lead by example’

Mr Powell said: “In doing so, candidates can lead by example, showing that disagreements can be handled without resorting to abuse. This modelling of good behaviour by elected politicians is one of the key recommendations from the Jo Cox Civility Commission. By debating with civility and respecting the views of others, the Jo Cox Foundation believes that a more positive and constructive political climate is possible.

“I knew Jo Cox, then Jo Leadbetter, as a fellow campaigner for Britain in Europe before she entered Parliament. In more recent years, I met Sir David Amess, who led the UK delegation to the Free Iran Congress.

Their violent deaths are a stark reminder that we need to listen to and hear our opponents and, at all costs, we need to dial down the rhetoric, and cut out talk of ‘scalps’ and ‘decapitation’, all too prevalent in social media. Only by doing that – and by learning to ‘disagree well’ – can we mend our broken system and restore trust and hope in politics.”