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Feb

Last Updated: 20/02/2024

Police investigate Harrogate Lib Dem leader for racism and anti-semitism

by John Plummer

| 20 Feb, 2024

Cllr Pat Marsh, leader of the Liberal Democrats on Harrogate Borough Council.

Police are investigating Harrogate councillor Pat Marsh for racial and anti-semitic social media posts.

North Yorkshire Police said in a statement this morning it was looking into posts shared on X, formerly Twitter, which are believed to have been shared between Wednesday, January 24 and Sunday, February 18.

It added it was "investigating the incidents of hate crime and is appealing for anyone with information to come forward".

Neighbourhood policing inspector Nicola Colbourne, of Harrogate neighbourhood policing team, said:

“North Yorkshire Police takes hate crime extremely seriously and we are committed to identifying those responsible.

“We are following all available lines of enquiry and would ask anyone who has any information that could support our investigation, other than seeing the tweets, to please come forward.”

Cllr Marsh, who represents Stray, Woodlands and Hookstone, described Jews as “vile” and “horrendous” in a series of posts on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The long serving Liberal Democrat leader in Harrogate and Knaresborough and former mayor of the Harrogate borough was suspended by the party yesterday but has said she will continue to serve as an Independent councillor. She has deleted many of her tweets.

A Lib Dems spokesperson described her views as "appalling" and said a swift investigation would follow.

Antisemitism campaigner Steve Cooke highlighted some of her posts, which included comments saying, ‘It is shameful the world is silent and the Jews are horrendous’, ‘I hope the Jews fell proud of this, they are evil’, and ‘how many other people are out there slaughtering babies and children as the Jews are at the moment’.

An account on X called Business Yorkshire said it had reported Cllr Marsh to the police and it was "taking it very seriously".

[embed]https://twitter.com/Businessyorks/status/1759601435585450068?fbclid=IwAR33V6xMG08T8B-A_pEJJ67Q3KmuvkfFFazjIo0qgEejECSdsroLtBLnXus[/embed]

Issue raised in Parliament

Andrew Jones, the Conservative MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, reiterated claims in Parliament last night that other Lib Dems must have known about the posts.

In a Commons debate about anti-semitism, he said the "most senior Liberal Democrat councillor in Harrogate and Knaresborough has been exposed for tweeting horrendous antisemitic comments for the past five weeks", adding:

"She had hundreds of followers, including many senior local Liberal Democrats; she tweeted over 500 times on the subject, and those tweets were read over 10,000 times, so it beggars belief that no Liberal Democrat knew what she was saying.

"They must have known, but in the five weeks she has been tweeting, they did nothing until it was exposed in the media today."

Police urged anyone with information is asked to contact North Yorkshire by calling 101, quoting job number 12240031057.

Alternatively, independent charity Crimestoppers can be contacted anonymously online at Crimestoppers-uk.org or by calling 0800 555 111.

Pat Marsh refuses to resign as councillor following antisemitism row

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Thank you for your interest in this story

Police investigate Harrogate Lib Dem leader for racism and anti-semitism

Issue raised in Parliament

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