FRIDAY, APRIL 27, 2018 CAMBRIDGE-NEWS.CO.

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FROM THE IT’S THE

BIG ISSUE WORLD’S
TO END FOR
FLAT SNOOKER
WHITES PAGE 3 ACE PAGE 68

VILE BIGOTRY
SPEWED BY George Stoakley has
provoked outrage after the
tweets came to light

TWITTER
STORM
TORY PAGES 4&5

 
 
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4 CAMBRIDGE NEWS FRIDAY, APRIL 27, 2018 CCN-EO1-S2 cambridge-news.co.uk

News
‘Shock’ and ‘deep
unhappiness’ over
candidate’s remarks
THERE has been plenty of
response to George Stoakley’s
remarks.
Cambridge, Labour MP,
Daniel Zeichner said: “If these
comments are found to be
genuine, it is up to the
Conservative Party to take
prompt and appropriate action.
I would always, of course, urge
people to vote Labour. The
reported views do not reflect
the values of decent people in
Cambridgeshire, and I hope
people will vote accordingly.”
A spokesperson for
Cambridge Unite Against
Fascism: “Cambridge Unite
Against Fascism roundly
condemns the vile racism
apparently exhibited by Mr
Stoakley, whose comments
have no place in mainstream
political discussion.
“Anti-Semitism leads to the
vile reality of death camps and
gas chambers, and is never
something to be taken lightly.
This is especially true in a
climate which sees anti-
Semitic parties on the rise
across Europe, as the recent
election results in Hungary
show.
“It appears from his other
comments that Mr Stoakley’s
privileged position have
allowed him to take on a whole
raft of prejudices against
those less fortunate than he.
We expect the Conservative
Party to deal with this vile
bigotry with the same
persistence with which they
have pursued the small
number of cases of much less
severe anti-Semitism on the
left.”
Cllr Bridget Smith, leader of
the Liberal Democrat group on
South Cambridgeshire District
Council, said: “The comments
made on twitter by Mr
Stoakley are abhorrent and
inexcusable. Communications
of this nature fall far below the
standards that we should
expect from people aspiring
for a role in public life.
“Mr Stoakley should issue a
public apology immediately
and consider whether he can
continue to actively campaign
in the upcoming election.
“We are calling on the South
East Cambridgeshire
Conservative Association to
suspend the membership of Mr
Stoakley and to announce
publicly that it is no longer
supporting his candidature at
the district council elections.
“The Conservative
Association should also
investigate how someone
capable of making such
comments could have been be
allowed to stand as a
candidate for them.”
Cllr Peter Topping, leader of
South Cambridgeshire District
Council, said he felt “shock”
and “deep unhappiness” when
he heard the news about
George Stoakley.
He said: “My understanding
is that this person has been
suspended from the
Conservative party and all
links severed, and rightly so.
Those comments have no
place in modern society and I
condemn them.”
A spokesman for the Board
of Deputies of British Jews,
the national representative
organisation for the Jewish
community, said: “Anti-Semitic
and homophobic tweets by
Conservatives candidate
George Stoakley are
Cllr Peter Topping said
he was left in shock
disgraceful.
“His suspension by the
Conservative party is the right
decision. The party must
swiftly investigate how
someone with these views was
selected as a candidate.”
A joint statement was issued
by Labour’s candidates in the
Fen Ditton and Fulbourn ward,
Tim Andrews, Frances Amrani
and Cathie Rae. It said: “The
Labour Party candidates in
Fulbourn and Fen Ditton were
shocked to read the comments
on the Twitter feed of the
Conservative candidate
George Stoakley.
“We understand he has been
suspended from the
Conservative Party pending an
investigation and no longer
appears on their list of official
candidates.
“It is too late for his
nomination to be withdrawn
and he will appear on the
ballot paper on May 3. We
would call on all residents of
Fen Ditton and Fulbourn not to
vote for George Stoakley.
There is no place for these
views in South
Cambridgeshire.
“We have run a positive
campaign addressing the
concerns of residents. Please
vote for your local Labour
candidates Tim Andrews,
Frances Amrani and Cathie
Rae.”

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cambridge-news.co.uk
Tory took to
Twitter to joke
about Jews
ANNA SAVVA AND
HANNAH KANE
Reporters
newsdesk@cambridge-
news.co.uk
A CONSERVATIVE candidate
has been suspended from the
party over offensive com-
ments about Jews and AIDS
discovered on his Twitter
account.
George Stoakley referenced
Anne Frank’s suffering as she
hid from Nazis in an attic and
said AIDS was “weaponised
semen” in tweets.
Following outrage on social
media after the tweets were
discovered the Conservative
Party has suspended Mr
Stoakley and started an inves-
tigation.
A Conservative spokesman
told the News yesterday:
“George Stoakley has been
suspended and an investiga-
tion is under way”.
The 23-year-old was due to
stand for election in the Fen
Ditton and Fulbourn ward in
the local election on May 3.
The Conservative candidate
made references to the hor-
rendous conditions Anne
Frank suffered while hiding
from the Nazis.
In a tweet he said he was
“sweating like a Jew in an
attic”.
Other derogatory and offen-
sive tweets called an 11 year
old girl a “s***”
In 2014 he tweeted: “What
the f*** getting pregnant at 11,
and giving birth at 12 dirty
little s**g should have the
child taken away.”
Other horrendous com-
ments saw the then teenager
call AIDS “weaponised
semen” in July 2013.
His comments have sparked
a social media storm and peo-
ple have started declaring the
prospective candidate “unfit
for election”.
Another tweet suggested Mr
Stoakley was jealous of Jeremy
Kyle because he got to “shout
at chavs all day.”
He also called for relaxed
gun laws in the UK and said
hand guns should be legalised
CCN-EO1-S2 CAMBRIDGE NEWS FRIDAY, APRIL 27, 2018 5
News
Comments
‘disgusting’
FEN Ditton and Fulbourn
residents had their say on the
incident.
One resident, who didn’t want
to be named said: “I think it’s
disgusting, and not sensible
putting that out if you’re trying
to be a public figure. He certainly
will not get my vote”
Rob Evans, from Fen Ditton
said: “Any politician who
repeatedly makes anti-semitic
remarks should be banned from
public office.
“Please let him go on Jeremy
George Stoakley was due Kyle but don’t let him anywhere
to stand in the Fen Ditton near a public office. ”
and Fulbourn ward Christopher Judd, 62,
computer engineer from Fulbourn
said: “At his age he’s obviously
immature and shouldn’t be in
office.”
He added he felt there should
be an age restriction for
candidates meaning they should
be 40 or over.
Horrace White, 75, retired from
Fulbourn, said: “People say
something as a throwaway
comment. If you said some of the
stuff we said when we were
young you’d get the book thrown
at you. People don’t have a sense
of humour any more, and unless
it’s been said in an offensive way
it shouldn’t be taken offensively “
in Britain.
Despite being suspended
and investigated by the Con-
servative Party, Mr Stoakley
will be on the ballot paper in
Fen Ditton and Fulbourn on
May 3.
The date to be withdrawn
from election was 4pm on Fri-
day, April 6. Therefore Mr
Stoakley will still be listed as a
Conservative candidate on
the ballot paper and has
already been a candidate list-
ed on postal ballots.
The Electoral Commission
states: “The details of any can-
didates who by the close of
withdrawals remain validly
nominated must be printed
on the ballot papers. If a can-
didate has not withdrawn by
the deadline, their name must
go forward to the ballot
paper.”
The Conservative Party has
said because of the time-
frame he cannot be deselect-
ed but if he were elected, he
would not join the ranks of the
Conservative grouping in the
council.