Yahoo News Ukip councillor blames London violence on 'disease more apparent in African and Asian cultures'
A Ukip councillor remains in his post despite claiming that the recent spate of London murders was due to ‘disease more apparent in African/Asian cultures’.
Cllr Philip Winter, of Almondsbury Parish Council, Bristol, had been reinstated by the party just a week earlier, after being temporarily suspended for calling for ‘d***ies’ to be deported on Twitter.
South Gloucestershire Council cleared Cllr White of wrongdoing after the Twitter posts, on the grounds that they were not made in his official capacity as a councillor.
But a week after being reinstated by Ukip, Cllr White had taken to the internet once more to air his views.
He originally wrote on Twitter: ‘I believe the current spate of violent youth crime has its roots within disease, and more apparent in Asian/African cultures.
‘What I deem the illness effecting mental capacity to-be is Encephalitis Lethargica!
‘Ukip would invest adequate funding in secure Mental Health facilities.’
In an email written to the Bristol Post, Cllr White went on to say: ‘What we are all witnessing today with such a sharp increase in ruffians and pests to society along with thieving, destructive behaviour, attacks on younger children, or sexual offences, is a malady of the developing brain.
‘Unfortunately with such an illness, after any recovery, the complete mental outlook may be altered.
‘And if the inflicted had severe symptoms, they would forever have considerable reduction of mental capacity.’
Desmond Brown, who runs the Growing Futures project in Bristol, said: ‘This is going back to the racism of the 70s and 80s. The views in this email are not off the top of his head.
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‘He is suggesting BAME (black, asian, minority ethnic) communities are genetically inferior. I think this email shows his naivety and I would have to question his mental state by putting this out.’
The politician’s comments were criticised by parish council chairman Philip Hall.
Cllr Hall said: ‘Based on what he writes, he is a racist but he doesn’t say anything like that in meetings.
‘I don’t think he is suitable to be a parish councillor, not with views like that.’
Cllr Hall questioned the decision by SGC to allow Cllr White to retain his position, a decision which was made in December.
During that time he was temporarily suspended by UKIP but was reinstated last week.
Ukip chairman Tony McIntyre said: ‘These are the personal views of Cllr Winter and do not represent the views of the party.
‘We do have a policy to invest more of the nation’s resources in dealing with mental health issues, but would not call them incurable and would not wish to blame any specific community.
‘We will be considering what actions need to be taken in the near future.’
A spokesman for South Gloucestershire Council said Cllr Winter’s comments would need to be formally reported before the authority can issue a statement.
