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Home Sittingbourne News Article
A Conservative peer has condemned the decision to readmit the leader of a local council to the party less than a fortnight after his suspension.
Swale borough council leader cllr Andrew Bowles was temporarily excluded from the party after he retweeted a post that criticised the decision of Facebook and Instagram to ban the far-right activist Tommy Robinson.
The founder of the English Defence League was banned for repeatedly breaking policies on hate speech.
The tweet in question said the decision to ban Mr Robinson was a "disgraceful injustice" and urged people to retweet it if they agreed, which Cllr Bowles, who represents the Boughton and Courtenay ward, did.
Mr Bowles issued an apology and said he had only retweeted the comment because he was defending free speech.
Baroness Warsi, who has been highly critical of her party’s failure to address Islamophobia and has accused it of being institutionally racist, took to Twitter to express her dismay.
She said "we have lost all moral authority on issues of discrimination and hate" and the swiftness of the decision had put the party at a new low.
Cllr Bowles has been readmitted to the party in time for him to stand in the forthcoming council election in May. He has been leader of the Conservative group for 16 years.
Cllr Roger Truelove, the opposition Labour group leader on Swale council also criticised the readmission, saying it was a charade. He tweeted:
Mr Bowles was required by the party to go on a course about the use of social media before being readmitted. In an apology posted on Twitter after his suspension, he said he condemned racial intolerance and did not in any way support Mr Robinson.
The Kent Conservative party faced further embarrassment this week when county councillor Paul Messenger admitted historic Islamophobic posts on Facebook, having initially denying he was responsible and his account had been hacked.
