A leading member of the Conservative party in Croydon, and the Westminster assistant to a Tory MP in a marginal seat with a significant Muslim population, has backed UKIP’s Nigel Farage.
Barwell’s office assistant: Mario Creatura, Tory councillor in Coulsdon
Mario Creatura, who is paid up to £33,000 per year of public money to work as a parliamentary assistant to Gavin Barwell, the gaffe-prone MP for Croydon Central, yesterday took to Twitter (where else?) to back Farage’s stance over withdrawing the citizenship of those Britons fighting for ISIS in Iraq and Syria.
Earlier this week, the terrorist group released horrific video footage of the public beheading of American journalist James Foley. The perpetrator was masked, but has since been identified as probably one of a band of Britons who have joined the terror army in the Middle East.
“They’re British citizens killing innocent people. They shouldn’t be allowed to return to our country and walk among us,” declared Creatura.
Unless Creatura is on annual leave, the comments he posted on social media were written during his tax-payer-funded office hours yesterday afternoon, when he was supposedly working for Barwell and the constituents of Croydon Central.
It is not known whether he sought Barwell’s approval before publicly supporting the views of the leader of another political party.
Creatura’s comments come when the BNP has been active in Barwell’s constituency, particularly in New Addington, stirring up anti-Islamic sentiments with a campaign over the building of a mosque. But then Creatura has form in that regard, having presided over a youth “work group” near the Croydon Mosque on London Road two years ago when racist abuse and threats of violence against worshippers resulted in the police being called out.
Mario Creatura, checked shirt, at the centre of activity in April 2012, when the police had to be called to a work party he organised over complaints of threats and racist abuse. Gavin Barwell, Creatura’s boss, later apologised to the local mosque
Creatura is a self-declared “gobby factotum” who was parachuted into the safe Tory ward of Coulsdon West where he was duly elected as a councillor in May, adding another £11,000-plus per year in councillor allowances to his state-funded income. Creatura is apparently the deputy conservative chairman for London South” (so only second choice, then), and carries a feeble caveat on his Twitter account that “Views my own”.
Except on this occasion, when they are those of UKIP and Farage.
Creatura linked to a news report in which Farage said that those who choose to fight for ISIS “rendered themselves effectively stateless”, and should not be allowed to return to Britain.
Creatura gave this position his full backing. “It’s exactly this sort of idea that makes UKIP and Farage so popular – because he’s right,” said the Tory councillor, apparently with no regard for the due process of law.
Challenged about this view by another Twitter user, Creatura was adamant: “Don’t care. Strip them of their citizenhood and let the international courts sort them out. No place in a civilised country.
“They have literally gone abroad to fight against Western ideology. That should be a sign that they reject our statehood,” Creatura said.
This may make the next meeting of the Conservative group on Croydon Council more interesting than usual.
Because “walking among them”, as Creatura might put it, as a member of the local Tories’ front bench team is Croham councillor Maria Gatland, who as the Dublin-born Maria Maguire once rejected British statehood when running guns for the Irish terrorist group, the IRA. Maybe Councillor Gatland can advise Creatura about the importance of the due process of law?
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There is no place in Britain for anyone who decapitates or otherwise murders someone else. If we discover the identity of this individual, I hope we will pass the information to the Americans. If we or they can spirit him out of the middle East, I hope he will go on trial in America and, if found guilty, I hope he will face the full rigour of American justice.
If that means I find myself agreeing with Nigel Farage and/or Mario Creatura, on this specific issue, so be it.
Rule of law, David. It’s what is supposed to separate this country from others.
Murder is murder, and those responsible need to be caught, charged and the case prosecuted in open court under the rule of law, whether that be English, Scottish or international law.
Rule of law is precisely what I was suggesting, isn’t it?
Extraordinary rendition, and the detention of people without charge, often for years on end, is not anything recognisable through Magna Carta.
Innocent until proven guilty.
That was the proper process observed in the prosecution of Lee Rigby’s murderers, and that’s what we should adhere to in all similar cases, however horrific the crimes.
In who’s jurisdiction did the crime take place? Not the United States’.
The question of jurisdiction is an interesting one: who is in charge in the area where the murder took place? Presumably, its the regime that commits the vilest atrocities.
And you think anyone will receive any kind of trial, let alone a fair and open one, in that situation?
Of course not, David.
But this is what you said on Aug 22: “If we discover the identity of this individual, I hope we will pass the information to the Americans. If we or they can spirit him out of the Middle East, I hope he will go on trial in America.”
I am fundamentally opposed to extraordinary rendition in countries where the rule of law persists. I did not agree with the British government’s co-operation with the Americans on previous occasions, though it was and is inevitable while our foreign policy is anything we think will ingratiate us with Washington.
In the current lethal cocktail that is the middle Eastern I would consider extraordinary rendition to be rough justice, but intimately more just than wringing our hands and doing nothing.
David: less than a week ago, you were publicly advocating extraordinary rendition in this latest case. A bit like Boris’s latest calls for this country to behave ilegally (according to the Home Secretary) by withdrawing offenders’ citizenship.
Please don’t conflate the desire to act properly with doing nothing. Nor is refusing to act on the bidding of the US State Department “doing nothing”, either.
I thought it was already illegal for British nationals to fight in foriegn conflicts on any side unless they are members of the army. Farage/Creatura’s policy then is nonsensical as if you analyse it logically it would just let people off the hook and if you analyse it emotionally its just xenophobia
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