Would you want this ex neo Nazi, internet troll, misogynist, racist ex con on your council?

[DorsetMermaid]

Kemi Badenoch says he deserves a second chance. Would you want him on your council?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1l1q6167d3o

I agree. A rare consensus on MN.

Apparently he’s been cleared by the home office to re-educate others now on anti semitism .

What is Polanski doing?! Presume this reflects nervousness in the Green Party ranks about how bullet-proof their own vetting and selection processes are...?

Where did you read that?

I can't think of any reason why anyone would want to be associated with that kind of thug.

It is morally repugnant and politically very, very silly.

What a bizarre decision from Badenoch.

For quite a long time I’ve been trying to decide if he is just a grifter or just a bit thick.

I came to the conclusion recently that he is both.

I know that people can turn their lives around. I also agree with what @5128gap says here:

I'm happy to accept that people can be rehabilitated, deeply remorseful, return to society and wish to provide service as some recompense for their past wrongs. And this man's anti extremism work seems appropriate.

Absolutely no need for him to take up a role he has been explicitly told is distressing to his victims and offensive to the Jewish community. Anyone genuinely remorseful would take these responses on board and stand down to avoid causing further distress.

I've never been called a nazi or a racist. I suppose I must be a 'beige people pleaser'.

But he really is (was) a neo-nazi. He makes repeated reference to "the judeo-marxist enemy" and "ZOG" (Zionist occupational government) which are neo-nazi tropes. He was a poster on the Daily Stormer and Stormfront, both avowed neo-nazi websites. He sieg heil-ed to his supporters in the gallery at one of his trials. He wasn't just someone who thinks immigration has gone a bit far or that blokes in dresses should use the men's loos.

Agree. Plus would he have drawn attention to himself via his continuing stream of AI slop? Why not just keep his head down and use his experience to try to persuade others from going down the same path.

It smells like grift to me.

I think it is not as simple as "redemption in all circumstances or not".

Of course people should be rehabilitated wherever possible and reintegrated into society, but there should be a bar set for things like elected public office.

Is a reformed rapist a good person to go and work with rape victims?

How can Badenoch stomach standing up for this man?

it only confirms that she’s a “if you don’t like my principles, I have others” sort of politician.

It certainly shows a shocking lack of judgement by her.

Im sure Reform will have him. They seem very comfortable with ex cons.

I couldnt believe this when I read about it - I saw his antics first hand before he was stopped as I knew one of his other, many, victims. He was prolific - he came across as extremely unwell at the time.
It took an extremely long time and many offences before he was given a custodial sentence.
I really thought he's never appear online again but it looks like he couldnt resist a comeback. Thats what really concerns me - he wasnt prepared to lie low and do good works in the background...

Badenoch's statement mentioned it.

I do believe in redemption but I think political extremism is a funny thing because if the root personality traits are still there it can pop back up in funny ways later. Who was the former Islam extremist who did loads of good anti-extremism stuff but then went absolutely mad during COVID over vaccine conspiracy theories. I don't think that makes him a bad person at all, but I am also glad he wasn't an elected politician at the time.

Plus, it's not just about political belief. It's also what he did - he was quite happy to harrass a woman online a lot and while I appreciate his remorse for that, he still seems to find joy in being the centre of attention/causing mischief with things like the Crewkerne Gazette. And that's much healthier than harrasing someone online but Im not sure really if it's the right traits for a counsellor...

"He wasn't just someone who thinks immigration has gone a bit far or that blokes in dresses should use the men's loos."

Nice touch connecting feminists with Nazis there...

Not at all - just pointing out that the "nazi" accusation gets thoughtlessly flung at people with perfectly mainstream views, but that in this case it is completely valid.

Yeah
I think online validation itself can be addictive and pushes people further than they would otherwise go. If someone had/has issues with alcohol that caused him to act badly then I don't think I would support them starting drinking again because they had behaved so well the two years they were sober.

Maajid Nawaz, I was think about him too in this context.

I’ve just read that he also has a string of convictions for violent offences including assaulting a police officer.

I also believe in rehabilitation but standing for political office seems, to me to be a rather large step to far.

I don’t think the vast majority of people would want someone like that in public office.
But my
question is why cant he just continue with the work he’s doing to promote anti semitism? He doesn’t need to be in a public office to do that.

I am pleased that the BBC is keeping this story up near the top of its news site (presume this is also a function of the number of people looking at it).

What a dumb post.

It will bite them in the bum.

I incline to giving a pass to adults on their teenage fuckery, to a lesser extent early 20s fuckery depending on the type of fuckery. I’ve also seen first hand the postive impact of rehabilitated extremists (and criminals in general) in countering those views amongst young men/teens susceptible to the same messages. If he is genuine and successfully doing preventive work for eight years I can see why an organisation or public body might employ his services.

But - with that level of offences, continuing into his 20s its too soon to be standing even as a lowly councillor. If he were ten years older with nearly 20 years of good prevention work behind him then maybe.

I do have differing expectations for low office vs high office.

Kemi does. A fiery cross on her lawn or some star of david burning won't put her off. She welcomes him into the Tory embrace