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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Politics
John Stevens

Tory candidate posted on Facebook about 'stoning' refugees who cross the Channel

The Conservatives have picked an election candidate who wrote on Facebook in 2021 about “stoning” refugees who cross the Channel.

Stuart Peach is standing for the party in Ashfield where Tory deputy chairman Lee Anderson is the MP.

In offensive posts on Facebook, Mr Peach speculated about people using violence to stop those arriving in this country in small boats.

He questioned what would happen if “the English started to take the law into their own hands” to deal with the issue.

“What would happen if 200,000 Englishmen marched down to Dover and started stoning the migrants?” he added.

The Tories declined to say whether Mr Peach will face any disciplinary action.

It is too late to remove him from the ballot paper where he will be listed as standing for the party.

Stuart Peach posted on Facebook about 'stoning' people who arrive across the Channel (Facebook)

Mr Peach has repeatedly described those coming on small boats as “invaders”.

And he has praised Home Secretary Suella Braverman, writing: “You go girl.”

Alongside a picture of the Cabinet minister, he posted: “We the people stand with this fine lady to defend ‘our shores’. Stop the invasion!”

He previously called on ministers to “stop the invaders or the barricades are going up”.

“I wonder how many people will be killed in this country by invaders?” he asked in another post.

Mr Peach said he hoped to get elected as local councillor in next month’s elections because it is “easier to change things at grassroots level and work up”.

David Hennigan, a councillor on Ashfield District Council, accused the Conservatives of being “up to their necks in links to racists”.

The local council candidate lavished praise on Home Secretary Suella Braverman (Facebook)

“It is an insult to voters that the Conservatives have put someone with these views up for election,” he said.

“The Conservatives in Ashfield continue to lose integrity and I am calling on this man to be formally kicked out of the party.

“Failure to do so will show that Rishi Sunak has lost a grip of his party to angry racists.”

A Tory spokesman said: “The Conservative Party has an established code of conduct and formal processes where complaints can be made in confidence. This process is rightly confidential.”

Voters will go to the polls on May 4. In total, 8,141 council seats are up for grabs in 230 councils across England.

The Conservatives are expected to suffer losses as they are punished by the electorate for their botched running of the country.

Greg Hands, the party chairman, yesterday suggested it could lose around 1,000 council seats across England.

The Tory campaign has been hit by a series of mistakes.

The Mirror revealed last week its candidates include an ex-BNP member who wrote vile messages about Meghan Markle.

* Follow Mirror Politics on Snapchat, Tiktok, Twitter and Facebook.

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