Brexit Party drops candidate who said ‘not enough evidence Jews were gassed’

The Brexit Party has withdrawn its support for an election candidate who shared Holocaust denial on social media.

James Edward Buckley has been dropped as the party’s candidate for Blackley and Broughton after antisemitic content he posted was exposed by Jewish News.

The candidate created an online profile under the names ‘Man Chester’ and ‘Jim Edward’ on Facebook, and claimed “there’s not enough evidence they [Jews] were gassed”.

He also said “we sent our boys to die fighting to save Jewish Communists who now portray us as villains in their Hollywood movies” and that “Hitler was a Zionist helping to build Israel”.

In screenshots seen by Jewish News, Buckley commented online: “if you think Jews were innocent in WW2 you are blind”, that the Nazis “might have had a point” and that “Nazism was the reaction to these largely Jewish ideologies”.

He also said Hitler had Jews in the army and his inner circle and suggests people should read books by fascists themselves and not just go off articles on the internet.

The Brexit Party said it “is withdrawing its support for Blackley and Broughton candidate, James Buckley, with immediate effect. It has been brought to our attention that Buckley has links to a Facebook page promoting racist commentary, as well as questionable associations with extremist groups. It appears that Buckley took part in these activities under an assumed name, and as a consequence, evaded our vetting process.”

Andrew Gwynne, Labour’s Shadow Communities and Local Government Secretary, said: “The Brexit Party, which is standing aside in many seats to give the Conservatives a clear run, is fielding Nazi supporters and Holocaust deniers as parliamentary candidates.

“This is a scandal, which further demonstrates the rife racism and antisemitism in both the Brexit Party and the Conservative party.”

He added: “Through this racist pact, the Conservatives are legitimising Nazism and anti-Jewish hatred.”