A man elected as a UKIP councillor has been booted out of the party just days after his election.
Dave Small has been expelled with immediate effect following posts he made online in which he branded gay people ‘poofs’ and perverts and made a series of racist comments. He was only elected to the Church Hill seat on Redditch Borough Council last Friday (May 23) but the postings on his Facebook page emerged just minutes after the result was announced.
But it appears Mr Small intends to continue to sit on the council as an independent candidate and there is currently nothing Redditch Borough Council can do to stop him. All councillors have two months to sign official papers before taking their seat and as Mr Small has yet to do so he is not bound by the council’s code of conduct.
In an interview with the BBC the 81-year-old was unrepentant for his remarks. “I shall never apologise to the poofs and perverts and certainly not the foreigners. The people of Redditch voted for me, I will stand my ground.”
Mr Small claimed a lot of people had supported his views ahead of the election and he believed he would have support if he stood again, even after his views coming to light.
He said he had picked up the opinions in his early days at school and during national service but despite being told the world had moved on dramatically since then, he said he did not have to adapt with the world and those who were offended could ‘please themselves’.
His posts include one on June 3 last year in which musician Sir Elton John and sports presenter Clare Balding OBE are branded perverts. “I refuse to call them gays, as what has gay to do with Perverts like Elton John and Clair [sic] Balding who get their jollies in such disgusting ways. to sum up, they should not allowed to be married, they should go back to the closet,” it said. A previous post in February last year also states the best place for gay people is in the closet.
Another note on the wall under the headline ‘Muslims and the threat they pose to our way of life’ states: “Fact, we had most eradicated T.B from this country, then with the migration for Muslim country’s its near epidemic proportions. But mustn’t say anything, it might be considered racist.”
Coun Peter Bridle, who was elected the same day to represent UKIP in Arrow Valley East on Worcestershire County Council, said: “I certainly do not agree with anything Mr Small has said and no reasonable, decent, member of UKIP would agree with any of it at all. It’s disappointing when everybody has worked so hard in Redditch to be honest, decent and present our beliefs and we have been let down by somebody in our midst.”