UKIP councillor calls for Muslims to be banned from joining the party

A UKIP councillor in Hartlepool, the party’s North East stronghold, has urged that Islam is not a religion but a political ideology and that his party should “ban any Muslim from joining UKIP”.

Last Wednesday, councillor Tom Hind, who has represented the city’s Seaton Ward since 2014, wrote on Facebook:

“I have mentioned before UKIP will have to make some difficult decisions if it is to move forward.one of those difficult decisions is Islam I would like to ban any Muslim from joining UKIP. Islam is not a religion it is a political ideology based on conquest, how many more assaults on the British people need we endure before we understand Islam.”

The comments come after Paul Nuttall chose to refocus his party, which once claimed to be “libertarian”, to a focus on Islam – with an extreme “integration policy” that includes a ban on face coverings, and intrusive compulsory genital inspections for Muslim schoolgirls.

There have been calls for Councillor Hind to apologise and resign.

However, Hind has stood by his comments and said he will not be standing down.

He said his views were based on reading three books to learn more about Islam including the Qur’an.

Hind said: “In those books it’s about 2% religion and 98% political ideology.

“I found it was incompatible with UKIP and its ethics.

“They are my own personal views and it is not UKIP policy to stop any Muslim joining UKIP.

“If I can’t have my own personal views then it’s a lack of freedom of speech.

“I am certainly not standing down from my position as a councillor.”

He denied accusations of racism saying: “Someone has branded me a racist and that’s an opinion they have, it’s not fact.”

In an open letter to Hind, his fellow Seaton councillors Paul Thompson and James Black said: “Jointly, we are disgusted by your narrow minded, ignorant, ill formed, nasty and racist views.

“Your comments, particularly in light of the recent Manchester atrocities, only inflame racial hatred and are a despicable attempt to seek political gain from the sad deaths of 22 innocent victims.”

They added: “We therefore call on you to immediately resign your position as a Councillor on Hartlepool Borough Council and crawl back into the ignorant vacuum where these types of opinions belong.”

Hartlepool UKIP chairman and group leader on the council Councillor John Tennant distanced UKIP from Hind’s comments in saying that: “It’s not party policy to reject members based on their religious beliefs, sexuality, colour or their nationality.

“This is obviously a personal viewpoint of Councillor Hind.

“We have had Muslim candidates in the past and in this election just as much as we have had Jewish candidates before. It’s not party policy.”

Regarding any action the local party may take against Hind, Tennant said: “I need to speak to Councillor Hind and find out exactly where these comments come from in due course.”