By Sam Bright & Mikey Smith
A senior official in charge of dumping Reform UK candidates who make offensive posts on social media - defended Tommy Robinson on Twitter, it can be revealed.
An investigation by campaign group DeSmog found Noel Matthews, the party's national organiser, had reposted an article in 2018 claiming the far-right thug had been "persecuted" by the UK. His tweet sharing the article simply read: “THIS”.
A year earlier, in 2017, Matthews encouraged his Twitter followers to watch a video from former UKIP London Assembly Member David Kurten entitled “Why Islamophobia is a silly made up word”. Matthews has said that charges of Islamophobia were an “excuse for closing down the debate”.
Responding to the Tommy Robinson tweet, a Reform UK spokesperson said: "The tweet was an article about free speech. It said Robinson had been persecuted. And he had been, which is not suggesting support of Robinson, but the idea of fair play."
In reference to the Kurten video, the party said that Matthews was “arguing against the use of the suffix ‘phobia’ being slapped on to every rights issue.” Mr Matthews, who is also the party’s candidate in North West Leicestershire, has long-term links to the party - dating back to its original incarnation as the Brexit Party.
Mr Matthews sent the Tweets in June 2018, before the Brexit party was formed, but after his departure as a senior official for UKIP. In his role at Reform, Mr Matthews is personally responsible for informing candidates that they had been dropped.
Yvette Maxwell-Darkes, who was dumped by the party last week after she claimed Mr Robinson had “very good things to say” claimed online that she was informed of her dismissal by Matthews. Joe Mulhall, director of research at HOPE not hate said that Matthews’s comments made him “totally unsuitable to be a candidate in North West Leicestershire – one of the party's top targets.”
He added: “There is also a remarkable level of hypocrisy on display. Matthews holds a senior position in Reform UK despite making comments indistinguishable from candidates he has been involved in removing.”
