A newly elected Reform UK councillor in Barnsley is facing calls to resign after photographs surfaced appearing to show him with a swastika tattoo. Andy Arnold, who represents Wombwell on Barnsley Council, was pictured with the symbol on his arm in publicly accessible Facebook images from 2018.
The images were posted on an account linked to Tattoo Wombwell, a studio registered under Theresa Arnold, a fellow Reform UK councillor believed to be his wife. The swastika is widely regarded as a hate symbol due to its association with Nazi Germany and the Holocaust.
Theresa Arnold told the Sheffield Star the tattoo had been “misunderstood” and was connected to her husband’s brief interest in Buddhism in his late teens. She said the symbol had since been covered because people “incorrectly associated it with something entirely different from its original religious context”.
Labour politicians criticised the vetting of Reform candidates. Dan Jarvis, Labour MP for Barnsley North, said the reports were “deeply concerning”, adding that “for over 100 years the swastika has symbolised evil, antisemitism and the murder of millions”. James Higginbottom, leader of Barnsley Labour group, called for Arnold’s immediate resignation, saying he was “totally unfit to serve”.
Reform’s council leader, William Brown, defended Arnold, stating there was “no evidence that Councillor Arnold supports or endorses extremist or hateful views”. He described the symbol as a “Buddhist symbol of peace” and said no further action was required. The row follows the suspension of another Reform councillor in Sheffield over far-right imagery online.
