An independent Senedd election candidate in South Wales has been arrested on suspicion of malicious communications and inciting racial hatred in connection with a pro-Nazi website under his name.
South Wales Police said a 66-year-old man has been released on bail while the investigation continues.
The arrest follows reports that William Jeffreys, an independent candidate for the Pen-y-bont Bro Morgannwg constituency, had published essays online that included praise for Adolf Hitler.
A website bearing Jeffreys’ name and image, which also encouraged voters to support him in the upcoming Senedd elections, contained essays calling for violence against Jews and admiration for Hitler, the Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan.
One essay stated: “Anyone who murders a Jew is doing the world a favour. In the circumstances, who could possibly blame the Nazis for what they did to the Jews?”
Another, announcing Jeffreys’ intention to stand for office, said: “This is not the Jewnited Kingdom this is the Welsh Fatherland. Nobody has the right to come here and dictate to us.
“Yet that is precisely what is happening as teeming multitudes of foreigners spill over from England and further afield in a bid to take control of our minds and, our money.”
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Other writings referred to Jewish people as “parasites” and included misogynistic screeds.
One essay, titled Girls on top, stated: “Having women in charge of men is the most serious violation of natural law there is… Only in the modern age have our laws become distorted beyond recognition by those claiming to be the Chosen People.”
The essay went on: “The God-given role of women is best summed up in the German saying: Kitchen, Children, Church. Hitler firmly believed in this limited but important supportive role and steadfastly refused to compromise even when pressurised into doing so by the manpower shortage at the height of the war.
“Jews have always attempted to twist the God-given Christian democratic order for their own selfish ends... Most of the women who are making headway are not British but Jewish. London is awash with them. And the more they are given the more they want to take. Their voracious appetite for wealth and power knows no limits.
"They have come upon the face of the land like a plague of locusts. On the one hand they are the ultimate capitalists, on the other they feign poverty and to be the rightful defenders of the underdog, monopolising the trade union movement and subverting it for their own base purposes. Whatever they do they are full of their own self-importance.”
Another essay claims that Jewish people were the reason some men suffer from erectile dysfunction.
“Jews are not all circumcised, but a large number of them are. The condition of not having a foreskin makes them jealous and angry, causing them to secretly lash out at Gentiles in fits of cursing.
“Indeed, it is no exaggeration to say that the Jews curse their way through life.”
Other essays included praise for British fascist leader Oswald Mosley, and a statement that Plaid Cymru candidates “deserve the rope, not the vote”.
The website was first reported by Welsh news site Nation.Cymru, whose staff alerted police after discovering the material.
Officers confirmed an investigation was launched on April 14, leading to the arrest of a 66-year-old man.
A South Wales Police spokesperson said: “South Wales Police has arrested a 66-year-old man from Bridgend on suspicion of inciting racial hatred and malicious communications.
“The man has been interviewed and is currently on police bail while the investigation continues.”
There are no laws preventing someone charged with an offence from standing for election.
Jeffreys remains listed as one of three independent candidates in the constituency.
The case comes after police in Wales issued guidance to Senedd candidates on dealing with intimidation and abuse during election campaigns.
The document, developed with the National Police Chiefs’ Council, the Electoral Commission and the Crown Prosecution Service, outlines what may constitute a criminal offence, when to contact police and how candidates can protect themselves.
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