Far-right group Britain First has attacked the Electoral Commission after the regulator rejected its mayoral election slogans for being offensive.
The group’s reaction was first reported in the Huffington Post on Thursday after the Electoral Commission apparently rejected the planned slogans, which included “KEEPING LONDON BRITISH!” and “VOTE BRITISH!”
The Commission reportedly sent a letter to the group’s leader, Paul Golding, to inform him the slogans were not permitted.
“I regret to inform you that we have had to refuse your application to register [the slogans],” the correspondence explained.
“The law requires the Commission to form an opinion whether a proposed description would be offensive. We came to the conclusion that your party descriptions were offensive,” the Commission said.
Britain First published the letter on its website. The group claimed: “If Britain First had submitted “BRITAIN FIRST – WE LOVE MIGRANTS” it would have been accepted!”
Britain First said the Commission was meant to be an “impartial body” but had recently “started to show political bias towards certain right-wing parties.”
“The latest example is their refusal to allow Britain First to register certain slogans to be used on ballot papers.”
The group said the slogans were “offensive to the white liberal politicians and journalists and Islamic extremists, but not to true Londoners.”
When Paul Golding first announced he would run for London Mayor, the group’s deputy leader, Jayda Fransen, took to Facebook to blast its “pro-EU, Islamist-loving opponents” for wrecking Britain.
“They think they can get away with ruining our country, turning us into a Third World country, giving away our homes, jobs and heritage, but they will face the wrath of the Britain First movement, make no mistake about it!”
She said the group would not rest until “every traitor is punished for their crimes” through “good old fashioned British justice at the end of a rope!”