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New Tory campaign apologizes after members joked about ‘gassing chavs’ New Tory campaign denies links to messages about ‘gassing chavs’
(about 3 hours later)
New Tory grassroots campaign Activate UK has been forced to apologize after some of its members joked about gassing and doing medical experiments on “chavs” in a leaked WhatsApp chat. New Tory grassroots campaign Activate has denied those joking about gassing and doing medical experiments on “chavs” in a leaked WhatsApp chat were ever part of the group.
The messages leaked to the Guido Fawkes website show members apparently joking about “chavocide,” writing they could use “chavs… as substitutes for animals when testing,” that they wanted to “gas them all,” and comparing them to “vermin.” In a statement to RT, the group said the chat in question “was not and has never been part of Activate.” It added that “the individuals posting those disgusting messages are not members of Activate and have never been.”
Another participant suggested they should “run some experiments on them to see why they are so good at producing despite living rough.” Others want to turn the Isle of Wight into a “super prison,” or enforce “compulsory birth control on chavs.” “Activate does not tolerate those views and would withdraw the membership of any member caught purporting such ignorant nonsense.”
One member then warned “we gotta be careful otherwise this is turning into a nazi chat,” to which someone replied: “But seriously, chavs are an actual problem.” Guido Fawkes, which first published the messages, claim they were made in a group which was used as a precursor to the formation of Activate. The messages show people apparently joking about “chavocide,” writing they could use “chavs… as substitutes for animals when testing,” that they wanted to “gas them all,” and comparing them to “vermin.”
Another person suggested they should “run some experiments on them to see why they are so good at producing despite living rough.” Others want to turn the Isle of Wight into a “super prison,” or enforce “compulsory birth control on chavs.
Another person then warned “we gotta be careful otherwise this is turning into a nazi chat,” to which someone replied: “But seriously, chavs are an actual problem.”
Other members of the group then try to seize control of the thread. One person says, “the whole point of being a politician is to ensure that the lives of people in the UK are secured and made better.”Other members of the group then try to seize control of the thread. One person says, “the whole point of being a politician is to ensure that the lives of people in the UK are secured and made better.”
Another wrote that they would be working out a “code of conduct” in the next few weeks.Another wrote that they would be working out a “code of conduct” in the next few weeks.
In a statement, Activate UK apologized for “any offence that has been caused by the people in question.” Activate UK says it has not yet officially launched, and is in “no way, shape or form associated with the Conservative Party.”
“None of the people included in those messages currently have any seniority with the organization. We are working on ensuring that the people in question are removed from the group as a whole, if still members,” it said. The group is supported by senior party activists and chaired by Gary Markwell, a former Tory campaign manager and councillor in West Sussex, however.
“They were banned from the WhatsApp group in question when comments like this were made.”
The chat surfaced just a day after the group – set up as a Tory rival to the Corbyn supporting Momentum campaign – was formally launched online.
Activate UK aims to “engage young people with conservatism,” according to its website.
Although the group is supported by senior party activists and chaired by Gary Markwell, a former Tory campaign manager and councillor in West Sussex, a Tory spokesperson said Activate is “not officially linked to the Conservatives and it receives no party funding.”
RT UK has contacted Activate for comment.