David Coburn stands by Ukip’s sex offender Misty Thackeray, convicted of 10 sex crimes
THE EX-CHAIR of Ukip Scotland and now convicted sex offender Misty Thackeray continues to be employed at public expense despite his recent conviction for ten sexual offences.
Thackeray has worked as an advisor to the party’s sole elected politician in Scotland, David Coburn MEP – who scraped into the final elected position in the 2014 EU elections.
Now critics of the party have accused Coburn and Ukip of gross hypocrisy for continuing to support Thackeray on the public purse, despite the various convictions for sexual misconduct towards women heard at Glasgow Sheriff Court.
Thackeray, who received 2.6 per cent when standing for Ukip in the Glasgow East election of 2015, was sentenced yesterday having previously pled guilty to the offences.
“By continuing to employ Misty Thackeray, David Coburn sends out exactly the wrong message: that Ukip supports those who abuse women.” Hope Not Hate
Details of the crimes, reported by STV News, included an unsolicited phone call to a woman who didn’t know him to ask “do you know what I would like to do to you?” His ten offences, targeting women by phone and a single breach of the peace, left two victims “disgusted” and “violated and alarmed”.
Thackeray has not been removed from his post working for Ukip’s MEP.
Ukip leaders Nigel Farage and Paul Nuttall have previously linked sex crime to foreigners – including during the EU membership referendum when Farage said sex criminals from abroad were a “nuclear bomb”.
A consistent theme of right-wing nationalist and far-right groups is to blame foreigners and minority communities for criminality that exists across society.
A spokesperson for anti-racism campaign, HOPE not hate, told CommonSpace: “This seems like shockingly bad judgement and rank double standards from Ukip. On his Twitter account Ukip’s leader, Paul Nuttall, has previously questioned why a foreign sex offender was allowed to remain in the country. Surely this is double standards?
“By continuing to employ Misty Thackeray, David Coburn sends out exactly the wrong message: that Ukip supports those who abuse women. We’re sure the voters in Scotland will be demanding an urgent explanation. It just shows once again why the party and its representatives remain unfit to hold higher office.”
David Coburn and Ukip did not respond to requests for comment in time of publication.
Picture: CommonSpace
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