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Tory candidate accused of EDL plot urged to 'fess up' and 'go now' Tory candidate accused of EDL plot urged to 'fess up' and 'go now'
(35 minutes later)
A Conservative parliamentary candidate accused of plotting with the English Defence League to increase his vote by stirring up a row over a local mosque has been urged by the defence minister, Anna Soubry, to “fess up” and “go now” if the allegations are true. A Conservative parliamentary candidate who was recorded plotting with the English Defence League to increase his vote by stirring up a row over a new mosque is expected to be expelled from the party within days.
Afzal Amin has been suspended as the Tory candidate in Dudley North, pending a formal investigation, after he was filmed asking the EDL to plan a march against a mosque in the constituency that would then be called off. The defence minister, Anna Soubry, urged Afzal Amin, the Tory candidate in Dudley North, to “fess up” and “go now” if the allegations were true. According to the Mail on Sunday, Amin floated a plan for the EDL to a march against a mosque in the constituency that would then be called off.
In a video recording, published by the Mail on Sunday, Amin is recorded saying he would take the credit for persuading the EDL to call off the march on the eve of the general election. In return, he is alleged to have said he would be an “unshakable ally”| of the EDL in parliament. Amin has been suspended pending a formal investigation, but Tory sources indicated that Amin’s position was unsustainable.
Soubry told the Andrew Marr Show on BBC1 that Amin should resign from the party and stand down as the Tory candidate in Dudley North if the allegations were true. In a video published by the Mail on Sunday, Amin is recorded saying that he would take the credit for persuading the EDL to call off the march on the eve of the general election. He also pledged to act as the EDL’s “unshakeable ally” in parliament if they were able to help him.
She said: “He is at the moment denying this. He has been suspended. What I would say is, I would appeal, if there is any truth in this – to him – then go now, hold your head up. Obviously if this is right this is dreadful. The EDL is the most appalling organisation. It doesn’t matter which party you are. Anybody who engages in that sort of shenanigans doesn’t do anybody any credit.” A senior Tory source said: “What’s amazing is he hasn’t fallen on his sword already.”
The minister, who is Conservative MP for the marginal seat of Broxtowe, said candidates in such seats can sometimes get carried away. But she said Amin should “fess up” if the allegations were true. Soubry told the Andrew Marr Show on BBC1 that Amin should resign from the party and stand down as Tory candidate in Dudley North if the allegations are true.
Soubry said: “Sometimes people get a bit carried away. You and I know how tough it is fighting marginal seats. If there is any truth in this he should fess up and go now.” Soubry, a defence minister, said: “He is at the moment denying this. He has been suspended. What I would say is I would appeal if there is any truth in this – to him – then go now, hold your head up. Obviously if this is right this is dreadful. The EDL is the most appalling organisation. It doesn’t matter which party you are. Anybody who engages in that sort of shenanigans doesn’t do anybody any credit.
Grant Shapps, the Tory chairman, moved quickly to suspend Amin after the Mail on Sunday published the allegations about him. David Cameron was briefed as an emergency meeting of the party’s candidates committee agreed to suspend Amin, who will be asked to explain himself at a meeting on Tuesday. The minister, who is MP for the marginal seat of Broxtowe, said
: “Sometimes people get a bit carried away. You and I know how tough it is fighting marginal seats. If there is any truth in this he should ‘fess up and go now.”
Grant Shapps, the Tory chairman, moved quickly to suspend Amin after the Mail on Sunday published a series of conversations he held with the EDL. David Cameron was briefed, and an emergency meeting of the party’s candidates committee agreed to suspend Amin. He will be asked to explain himself at a meeting on Tuesday.
A Conservative spokesman said: “Following an emergency meeting, it has been decided to suspend him as a candidate with immediate effect. The Conservative party views this as a matter of extremely serious concern.”A Conservative spokesman said: “Following an emergency meeting, it has been decided to suspend him as a candidate with immediate effect. The Conservative party views this as a matter of extremely serious concern.”
Tory sources made clear that Amin would be expelled from the party and would be formally removed as the party’s candidate in Dudley North after the Mail on Sunday recording showed that he had tried to collude with the EDL in an attempt to portray himself in a positive light. Amin, a former army captain, will be asked for an explanation at Tuesday’s meeting. But sources indicated that there appears to be no way back for him in light of the recordings.
Amin was secretly filmed telling the former EDL leader Tommy Robinson and the EDL chairman, Steve Eddowes, at a restaurant in Birmingham last Monday that his “fantasy” was for the EDL to arrange a large march against the new mosque on 2 May, the final Saturday before the general election. This would then be called off after interventions by Amin, who would, he said, be praised for delivering a “resolution”.
In the recording, Amin said: “This is my fantasy … One way of doing this, if you were to announce a second march about the mosque and then we have two meetings with the chief of police, members of the Muslim community, we all play our roles. You say: ‘Yeah, we’re going to do a march, we’re campaigning and so on’.
“We have a second meeting where things are a bit calmer, then at the third one we have a press conference where we say, ‘We were going to do a march. The chief of police asked Afzal Amin, members of the Muslim community, we’ve sat together and … we’re going to work closely together.’ That will bring the English Defence League out of the shadows and into the mainstream political debate.”
Amin then confirmed his plans in a telephone conversation with Robinson on Wednesday. “Yeah, we’re very happy to proceed,” he said.
The candidate is likely to argue that his discussions with Eddowes and Robinson – who is understood to be close to EDL figures despite having left the organisation amid concerns about its violent reputation – were initially designed to stop an EDL march.
Amin met them in January to try to persuade them to call off a march planned for 27 February. The march involving 600 EDL supporters eventually went ahead. There were 30 arrests.
The candidate also discussed paying EDL supporters to canvass for him – an offence under the Representation of the People Act 1983. But Amin reportedly told the men: “I’ll put it to you bluntly. I need two white working class lads to go round those areas to say to people, ‘You support the army, if you support the troops then vote for this guy’. That’s what I need.”
Amin reportedly replied, when Robinson suggested it would cost £500 a week: “What’s that, £250 each a week? They do 4 April to the first week of May, that’ll be loads … from our perspective, they’re volunteers.”
Nigel Farage, the Ukip leader, said he was appalled by the allegations. Asked on the Marr show what he would think were one of his candidates recorded trying to broker a deal with the EDL, he said: “I would be absolutely mortified and their feet wouldn’t touch the ground.”Nigel Farage, the Ukip leader, said he was appalled by the allegations. Asked on the Marr show what he would think were one of his candidates recorded trying to broker a deal with the EDL, he said: “I would be absolutely mortified and their feet wouldn’t touch the ground.”
Gloria De Piero, the shadow women’s minister, said it was astonishing that a Tory candidate could seek to negotiate with an organisation that stirs up divisions. “It is astonishing,” she told Marr. “They intimidate people, they frighten people.”Gloria De Piero, the shadow women’s minister, said it was astonishing that a Tory candidate could seek to negotiate with an organisation that stirs up divisions. “It is astonishing,” she told Marr. “They intimidate people, they frighten people.”
A Conservative party spokesman confirmed that Amin – who was apparently filmed covertly talking about the deal – had been suspended.
“Following an emergency meeting it has been decided to suspend him as a candidate with immediate effect,” the spokesman said. “The Conservative party views this as a matter of extremely serious concern.”
A full disciplinary hearing is expected to be held on Tuesday, when Amin will be able to explain his actions and a decision on his future will be taken.
The prime minister is understood to have been informed of the situation and approves of the way it is being handled.
Amin was reportedly filmed by former EDL leader Tommy Robinson, who blew the whistle on the plot because he objected to being used as a pawn.
Amin, said to have been described on his Tory party website as a former army education officer to princes William and Harry, outlined his plan to Robinson and the current EDL chairman, Steve Eddowes, at an Indian restaurant in Birmingham on Monday.
The 40-year-old allegedly suggested EDL members could be paid to canvass on his behalf, and floated the idea of a phoney protest – just weeks after a demonstration in Dudley by 600 EDL supporters led to 30 arrests.
“This is my fantasy,” Amin apparently says in the footage. “If I could demonstrate to the people in Dudley that I can be a positive voice for community cohesion, for development, for campaigning against the evils and the terrorism and the child-grooming and all the rest of it, then that would help me a lot in the forthcoming election.
“One way of doing that is, if you were to announce a second march about the mosque … and then we have two meetings with the chief of police, members of the Muslim community, we all play our roles, you say, ‘Yeah we’re going to do a march, we’re campaigning and so on’.
“We have a second meeting where things are a bit calmer then at the third one, we have a press conference where we say, ‘We were going to do a march. The chief of police asked Afzal Amin, members of the Muslim community, we’ve sat together and … we’re going to work closely together’.”
Amin reportedly expanded on his plot in a phone call on Wednesday and in a second meeting at a branch of Pizza Express in London on Thursday.
Paying people to canvass in elections is an offence under the Representation of the People Act 1983.
But Amin is said to have told the men: “I’ll put it to you bluntly. I need two white working class lads to go round those areas to say to people, ‘You support the army, if you support the troops then vote for this guy’. That’s what I need.”
When Robinson suggested that would cost £500 a week, Amin is said to have replied: ‘What’s that, £250 each a week? They do 4 April to the first week of May, that’ll be loads … from our perspective, they’re volunteers.”
Amin had been due to take on the sitting Labour MP, Ian Austin, in the general election on 7 May. Austin had a majority of 649 in Dudley North in 2010.
Austin said: “This is a shocking story. A really appalling turn of events, but it doesn’t matter who the Tory candidate is because it’s the Conservative government’s policies that mean 400 staff at Russells Hall hospital are facing redundancy.”