Labour suspends member after ‘completely unacceptable’ comments at London rally

Labour has suspended one of its councillors who allegedly called for far-right protesters’ throats to be “cut” at a rally in Walthamstow on Wednesday evening.

Ricky Jones, a borough councillor in Dartford, Kent, is thought to have made the comments at a demonstration on Wednesday.

A Labour spokesperson said the violent imagery was “completely unacceptable and it will not be tolerated”.

In a video from Hoe Street in Walthamstow, which was filled pavement-to-pavement with anti-racism demonstrators, a man taking part was filmed saying: “They are disgusting Nazi fascists and we need to cut all their throats and get rid of them all.”

Some of the protesters are holding placards which read: “Smash fascism and racism by any means necessary.”

Protesters in Walthamstow, London, on Wednesday (PA Wire)

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage posted the footage to his X, formerly Twitter, account and asked: “Why has #TwoTierKeir not taken action?”

A Labour spokesperson said: “This behaviour is completely unacceptable and it will not be tolerated.

“The councillor has been suspended from the party.”

It means Mr Jones will be unable to sit on the Labour benches at Dartford Borough Council meetings.

Mr Farage is among several online commentators who have alleged police are dealing with some protesters more harshly than others, known as two-tier policing.

Sir Mark Rowley, who leads the Metropolitan Police Service in London, has previously rejected these accusations as “complete nonsense”.

He said on Wednesday: “We have commentators from either end of the political spectrum who like to throw accusations of bias at the police because we stand in the middle, we operate independently under the law without fear or favour.”

The Standard has contacted Cllr Jones and Dartford Borough Council for comment.