Labour have suspended a local councillor who told a protest that fascists needed to have their throats cut.
Ricky Jones, a local councillor in Dartford in Kent since 2019, was filmed giving a speech at a protest in Walthamstow, east London, surrounded by protesters.
He told the crowd that members from the TSSA transport union, which he is a member of, “had to go home on trains and take stickers off the trains with razor blades on the back of them”.
“And razor blades stuck between seats, where people sit,” he said.
“Now these people don’t give a shit about who they hurt – we’ve got children and women using those trains, it’s during the summer holidays.
“They are disgusting fascists and we need to cut all their throats and get rid of them all.”
The crowd cheered and Mr Jones appeared to gesture slashing his own throat with his hand as he said it.
A protest in Walthamstow on Wednesday. File pic: PA
A spokesman for the Labour Party told Sky News Mr Jones has been suspended from the party.
He will no longer be able to sit as a Labour councillor as he has had the Labour whip removed, so will sit as an independent.
A Labour spokesman said: “This behaviour is completely unacceptable and it will not be tolerated.
“The councillor has been suspended from the party.”
Sky News has contacted Mr Jones and the TSSA for a comment.
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Met Police chief says ‘two-tier’ policing claims ‘complete nonsense’
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What is ‘two-tier policing’?
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage posted a video of the speech to X and called for Mr Jones to be arrested, saying if he is not “we know there is two-tier policing”.
He also asked Sir Keir Starmer why he had “not taken action”.
Metropolitan Police said it was “aware of the significant public concern around this video”, adding: “Officers are investigating as a matter of urgency.”
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During the recent riots, Mr Farage has accused the prime minister of “two-tier policing” – the suggestion that some protests and demonstrations are dealt with more harshly than others.
Sir Keir and Met Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley have both denied there is two-tier policing in the UK, with latter denouncing it as “complete nonsense”.
