Vote Leave board member quits over anti-Muslim tweets
One of the lead figures in the campaign to leave the European Union has quit after it emerged she had shared a string of anti-Muslim material on social media.
Vote Leave, the official Brexit campaign group, said it accepted the resignation of one of its board members, Arabella Arkwright, and said the tweets did not match the organisation's views, according to The Times.
The material included a retweet of a white girl in the middle of a group of burqa-clad people saying: "Britain 2050: why didn't you stop them grandad?", according to the Guardian. Other retweets included a link to material by Tommy Robinson, the founder of the far-right English Defence League, which suggested Muslims would build an Islamic state in Britain.
When asked by the Guardian, Arkwright denied the retweets from her account represented her views and said she abhorred racism in every form. She has since resigned from the campaign group and her name has been removed from their website.
"I am absolutely appalled that there should be any underlying suggestion that I have any racist tendencies," she said in a statement to the Guardian.
"I would like to make it absolutely clear that my RTs and forwarding do not mean that I endorse in any way the content of them. I RT a wide variety of different views on issues related to the referendum with which I do not agree in order that others can see the breadth of opinion on these matters. Is there anything wrong in that?
"You will note that my RTs are seldom accompanied by comments from me except Syrian Christians, who it was being widely reported at the time were being tortured for their faith. I am not a political animal and maybe am guilty of being naive, but I reject all prejudice and am deeply sorry for any offence that may have been caused. Moreover, perhaps I can be clear, I abhor any form of racism."
A Vote Leave spokesperson said: "As soon as we were made aware of these tweets we asked Arabella to hand in her resignation, which she has done with immediate effect.
"These tweets do not reflect the views of the Vote Leave campaign."
