Kemi Badenoch’s appointment of a former neo-Nazi, who stood down as a Tory council candidate on Wednesday, as an adviser on countering extremism is “an insult”, Baroness Berger has said.
The Conservative leader offered Joshua Bonehill-Paine a role on the party's Culture and Integration Commission after he withdrew as the party's candidate for the Crewkerne South ward on Somerset Council in next May's local elections following outrage over his previous convictions for racially-aggravated harassment, assault and burglary.
Badenoch defended the appointment, citing his subsequent deradicalisation and his work in anti-extremism training.
But Berger, who was among those targeted by Bonehill-Paine in a series of “vile” posts on social media in which he referred to her as a “Jewess” and “filthy Jew bitch”, said appointing him as an adviser was “an insult” in light of his prior imprisonment for antisemitic offences.
“The decision to welcome this individual as an adviser to the leader of the opposition is no better than allowing him to stand as a council candidate,” said the former Labour MP, who left the party amid the antisemitism scandal under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership but rejoined while Sir Keir Starmer was prime minister.
"It is a privileged and influential national role. As a victim of this man’s heinous crimes, this appointment is an insult.
Berger was six months pregnant when she gave evidence in court against Bonehill-Paine and recalled how he “performed a full Nazi salute to his supporters in the public gallery.”
On Tuesday, Berger said the decision to approve his candidacy in Somerset had hit her "like a punch in the stomach" and was "very, very wrong".
In his resignation statement, the former candidate said: “The last 24 hours have shown that a lot of people do not understand how terrible I feel about the things I did when I was much younger.
"I realise now that the fight against antisemitism is something that I actually need to do more of; I need to show the Jewish community how much I regret my previous actions and how hard I will work to fight to help destroy antisemitism and rebuild trust.
"I was 21 when antisemitism became my whole way of seeing the world. Because of my abhorrent behaviour, I was convicted, imprisoned and deservedly punished. Since leaving prison, I have now spent years fighting antisemitism and extremism.
"Rather than standing as a local council candidate, I believe that my experience is better used supporting Kemi Badenoch in her ongoing mission to combat the antisemitism and extremism that is dividing our nation.”
However, Liberal Democrat Adam Dance, the MP for the area where Bonehill-Paine was due to stand, said his appointment suggested Badenoch had still "not accepted her party got this wrong".
“This withdrawal is the right outcome but it should never have got to this point,” he said.
“What’s most concerning now is Kemi Badenoch’s response – she has not accepted her party got this wrong and instead frames legitimate concern about antisemitism as ‘piling on’. That is a troubling message to send.
“Residents in Crewkerne and across our county will rightly question a Conservative leader who seems more focused on defending her judgment than addressing why this candidate was selected in the first place.”
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