A Reform UK councillor in Newcastle has been accused of making a “virulently racist” post on social media. Kenton ward councillor Mick Mahoney has been criticised after reposting an image on his Facebook page which stated: "Stop using THEIR barbers. Stop eating THEIR takeaways. Stop using THEIR taxis. If you want them out of YOUR town, stop putting money in their wallets. Hit them where it hurts!!"
The post appeared on the Facebook account he uses in his role as a councillor and has since been deleted. The controversy follows Reform UK's expulsion of Benwell, Scotswood and Denton Burn councillor Daniel Astley in September due to his prior membership of the far-right Homeland Party, after a political storm surrounding a series of anti-Muslim social media posts and comments he made regarding immigration on Newcastle’s West Road.
Party under pressure
Nigel Farage’s party is also under pressure following an undercover investigation by ITV, in which several councillors and election candidates were filmed expressing racist views and using offensive language. Newcastle’s Liberal Democrats, who run a minority administration on the city council, called Coun Mahoney’s post “virulently racist”.
Deputy council leader Mark Mitchell said: “It’s very simple. Reform in Newcastle need to stop liking racist tweets and Facebook posts. Or else they need to accept that they will continue to be seen as condoning racists and the far right. It’s their choice.”
Labour response
A spokesperson for the Labour Party added: "I wish I was surprised, but divisive, crackpot claptrap is what we've come to expect from our Reform UK councillors in the North East. The party centrally needs to have a root and branch review of their candidate selection processes, because something, somewhere has gone terribly wrong."
The Reform UK group in Newcastle said that its councillors “reject all politically-motivated accusations of racism” and accused the Lib Dems of “hypocrisy”. Reform has called on the Liberal Democrats to end its partnership with the Green Party in Newcastle, following the controversial ‘Zionism is racism’ motion agreed at the Greens’ party conference and the readmission of a Green councillor in Arthur’s Hill who had been suspended for reposting a video on TikTok in which Jews were described as “ungrateful, merciless, and without love”.
Reform's response
A Reform UK Newcastle spokesperson added: “We take no lessons in opposing racism from a party that talks a big game but takes no action to end their grubby 'agreement' with the Newcastle Greens - a party that embraces councillors with a history of supporting antisemitic tropes and policies. Instead of trying to distract us with predictable accusations of phantom racism, the Lib Dem leader should be condemning his new Green friends who think Israel should not exist and that Jews are "without love".
"The diminished Labour group should also think twice before wading in to criticise other parties on this topic given theirs is the only party in a century to be officially deemed racist by the Equality Commission. Our residents deserve better than this pathetic hypocrisy in our city council."
