UK Tories re-admit councillor who compared Asians to dogs

Political compulsions trumped concerns over racism as the Conservative party re-admitted a newly-elected councillor in Lancashire on May 4 after she had previously been suspended for sharing a Facebook post comparing Asians with dogs.

Rosemary Carroll, who was an independent councillor from Earby in Lancashire’s Pendle Borough Council after the suspension, was re-admitted to the Conservative party when results of the May 3 local elections were being declared.

Her re-entry handed the party overall control of the council by a narrow margin, prompting charges of political opportunism and worse from Labour and other critics.

On Sunday, Business secretary Greg Clark sought to dampen the criticism by suggesting in Londonthat she may face an investigation.

Lancashire has a significant population that migrated from the Indian sub-continent. Carroll had shared the post in June last, prompting her suspension and continuing in the Pendle council as an independent, until her re-election and re-admission on May 4.

Local Conservative leader Paul White told BBC thatCarroll had “learned from her mistake. Rosemary is a good councillor for Earby. A popular councillor. She made a mistake, people make mistakes.”

However, Labour leader Mohammmed Iqbal described the decision as "a damning indictment of the Conservatives. She was welcomed back with open arms. They should have done the decent thing and distanced themselves from her. I'm appalled. The suspension was a gimmick.”

Asked about the row on BBC’s popular Andrew Marr Show on Sunday, Clark said: “I haven’t seen that, but I have seen the reports of it, and it seems to me that if they are the views of this person, she has no place in the Conservative party, and I’m sure the party authorities will have to investigate that.”

“If they are her views then they are incompatible with the Conservative party, but it is for the party authorities to investigate that.”