Since being elected, the Reform UK councillor has posted about Hitler, the Moors murderers and made an unfounded claim about a murder suspect
Labour MPs have called on Nigel Farage to suspend one of his councillors for sharing a string of offensive posts online.
Joel Tetlow, the Reform UK councillor in question, has shared several controversial posts since he was elected on 1 May.
The latest involved a Facebook post about a murder case, where he implied that the suspect’s ‘non-English’ name meant he was a refugee.
A 39-year-old man, Apapale Adoum, has been charged with the murder of a 36-year-old woman.
The caption on his post read: “Refugees welcome. Keep them coming in Liebour [sic] are saying.
“When will the penny drop for some people?”
When challenged by a commenter on the post: “So having a foreign name makes you a refugee now? According to Reform councillors?”, he replied “according to me”.
He added that his comment did not reflect the views of Reform UK or the council. He later said that his comment was “certainly not to imply that individuals with non-English names are all illegal immigrants”.
Responding to Tetlow’s comments on social media, Sarah Smith, Labour MP for Hyndburn, said: “Since being selected as a candidate, he has posted about Hitler, shared memes about the Moors murders, and now made an unfounded claim about a murder suspect based on their name.
“That’s a lot in a short space of time, and it’s making him a real liability for a party that claims to be serious about the issues that matter.
“Nigel Farage should suspend him, and the local party should withdraw the whip. This isn’t complicated.”
This isn’t the first time Tetlow has come in for criticism. Days after being elected, he shared an image of Adolf Hitler and compared people arriving in the UK on small boats to Nazis.
Labour MP for Blackpool South, Chris Webb, responded at the time that he was “appalled” by the post.
Webb said: “There is no room for hate or extremism in our political discourse, and we must unequivocally condemn this conduct.”
He called for the post to be taken down and for Reform to suspend him.
In March, Tetlow also shared a photoshopped image of Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves as the Moors murderers Ian Brady and Myra Hindley.
Reform has still yet to comment on the situation or take any disciplinary action against Tetlow.
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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