{"id":36641,"date":"2024-06-17T02:20:20","date_gmt":"2024-06-17T02:20:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/reform-partys-grant-stclair-armstrong-resigns-over-blog-comments\/"},"modified":"2024-06-17T02:20:21","modified_gmt":"2024-06-17T02:20:21","slug":"reform-partys-grant-stclair-armstrong-resigns-over-blog-comments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/reform-partys-grant-stclair-armstrong-resigns-over-blog-comments\/","title":{"rendered":"Reform Party’s Grant StClair-Armstrong resigns over blog comments"},"content":{"rendered":"


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By\u00a0Harry Farley,\u00a0<\/span>Political Correspondent, BBC News<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"ReformReform Party<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Grant StClair-Armstrong said he “bitterly” regrets comments he made on a blog “years ago”<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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Reform UK\u2019s parliamentary candidate in Kemi Badenoch\u2019s constituency has resigned after it emerged he previously urged people to vote for the BNP.<\/p>\n

Grant StClair-Armstrong, the party\u2019s candidate in North West Essex, told BBC News he had \u201cnever supported the BNP\u201d and had been forced to stand down by the party.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would have let the people decide,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

But a spokesman for Reform UK said \u201cMr StClair-Armstrong has tendered his resignation\u201d after \u201cthe revelation of unacceptable historic social media comments\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In remarks first reported by the Times<\/a>, Mr StClair-Armstrong wrote on a website: \u201cI could weep now, every time I pick up a British newspaper and read the latest about the state of the UK. No doubt, Enoch Powell would be doing the same if he was alive. My solution \u2026 vote BNP!\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr StClaire-Armstrong told BBC News he posted the comment sometime between 2004 and 2007 and he was an \u201cangry man\u201d at the time.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have never supported the BNP. I think they are a disgusting organisation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Asked whether he had chosen to resign, he said the party had forced him to.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be honest I wouldn\u2019t have stepped down. I would have let the people decide.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr StClair-Armstrong will still appear on the ballot paper as the Reform UK candidate because the deadline for nominations has passed. But if he is elected he would stand as an independent.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The Times reported his comments on the website also included racial slurs as well as a joke about \u201cfemale hormones\u201d.<\/p>\n

According to the paper, on a blog he called the \u201cJoli Triste\u201d Mr StClair-Armstrong wrote about the Scottish politician, Kenny MacAskill, wishing serious illness on them.<\/p>\n

On the Chilcot inquiry<\/a> into the Iraq war, he wrote: \u201cThe simple solution is to extradite Blair … [and] the odious Alistair Campbell to a country that routinely indulges in torture and execution\u201d.<\/p>\n

Speaking on Sunday, he said: \u201cI bitterly regret all of those comments made many years ago and I am just sorry that some people deemed it necessary to hunt for them when I am not the person I was then.\u201d<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Reform UK said: \u201cMr St Clair-Armstrong has tendered his resignation as a member of Reform UK due to the revelation of unacceptable historic social media comments and we have accepted his resignation.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The list of candidates standing in North West Essex:<\/i><\/p>\n