- Thursday, April 25, 2024
By: Keerthi Mohan
A Brexit Party candidate has been accused of spreading Islamophobic and antisemitic views on social media platforms.
Andrew Garcarz, the candidate for Birmingham Ladywood, reportedly said “Islam is the problem here” in a post about terrorism.
“Catholicism whilst a brainwashing cult does not advocate the extermination of non Catholics. Islam is the problem here. And until we destroy them the world will never be a safe place,” he said four years ago, according to anti-racist campaigners Hope Not Hate.
In August last year, he compalined about white people being accused of racisim, saying: “You mug us, carjack us, groom and rape our children. But, when white police officers arrest a black gang member, an Asian drug dealer or an Asian grooming gang that represents a threat to our society, you call them racist.”
He is also believed to have promoted a conspiracy theory known as the Coudenhove-Kalegri plan, which claims there is a secret plot to destroy the white race in Europe through immigration.
Speaking to Birmingham Live, Garcarz said: “It was an article that I read which was referring to an organisation set up by Coudenhove-Kalegri.
“The only reason I referred to it was because it could be likened to the EU immigration rules that were encouraging people from all over the world to come into the European Union. There was a similarity between what Kalegri was saying in his outline for a pan-European society and an equivalence with the European Union.
“I didn’t endorse it, I don’t condone it. I think some of the comments Kalegri made that are potentially anti-Semitic I disagree with entirely. I was highlighting the fact that there was a similarity not that I supported it or that I agreed with it.
“It is a non-story, When you put yourself up for election there are people who will trawl back tears and years and look for the most obscure thing and try to make a story about it.”
When asked about his comments on Islam and terrorism, Garcarz said he had no recollection.
