Dudley Council have responded after a councillor be came under fire over alleged “extreme antisemitic and derogatory comments” made on social media.
Reform UK’s Caley Ashman, who represents Cradley North and Wollescote, has been the subject of a letter from Halesowen MP Alex Ballinger, who wrote to party leader Nigel Farage calling for an investigation into the councillor’s posts.
Mr Ballinger said: "Given the party’s response to the recent ITV News documentary was to state that 'there is no room for racism in Reform UK,' it is now time for Reform UK to take immediate action against Cllr Ashman and condemn his vile racist and homophobic rhetoric.
"That is why today I am again calling on Nigel Farage MP to condemn Cllr Ashman’s comments, take immediate action against him, and condemn this behaviour."
Dudley Council has since clarified its position, stating it can only take action on conduct that occurs while an individual is serving as a councillor which Ashman was not when he made the comments.
Aftab Razzaq, the council’s monitoring officer, said: "The council is very clear with members about their responsibilities and standards of conduct and behaviour, including when posting on social media.
"This is reflected in the proposed Members’ Pledge to be signed by all councillors, which complements existing governance documents, such as the members’ code of conduct.
"The council can only take action in respect of conduct undertaken whilst being a councillor. Any action prior to this does not fall within the standards regime to which each councillor agrees to abide by when taking up office."
The posts in question include the use of the antisemitic term "goy-slop" and a statement suggesting "you shouldn’t let foreigners look after the young or old as they don’t care about you."
In May, Mr Ballinger, along with fellow Dudley Labour MPs Cat Eccles and Sonia Kumar, wrote to Mr Farage to express their concerns, but did not receive a response from Reform UK.
They have sent another letter last week following ITV's documentary.
We have reached out to councillor Ashman regarding the allegations but he is yet to respond.
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