By STEVEN DOWNES, Editor, Inside Croydon

‘A cesspit of vile racism’: the Tory-backed secret Facebook groups have been condemned, yet they still continue to operate

More than six months since this website exposed the Tory policing minister, Chris Philp, and Croydon’s Conservative Mayor, Jason Perry, as being involved with a secret Facebook group that appeared to encourage criminal damage and vandalism, an investigation conducted by Greenpeace has found what it calls “a coordinated network” of similar social media groups, all effectively being run by Conservative Party officials.

The social media pages share a common opposition to the expansion of London’s ultra-low emission zone to outer London.

And just as with “Croydon Say No To ULEZ expansion”, Greenpeace’s investigative journalism unit has found another 35 groups which provide “a platform for widespread racist, Islamophobic and antisemitic posts, as well as conspiracy theorist content and posts inciting criminal damage”.

Greenpeace’s Ami McCarthy said: “These groups are an absolute cesspit of vile racism and hate speech, as well as a breeding ground for dangerous conspiracy theories.

“That they’re being managed by Conservative operatives speaks volumes about the direction in which the party has gone, and just how toxic these anti-ULEZ campaigns have become.”

Photoshop: the anti-ULEZ groups depend heavily on photoshopped content… though rarely anything as on point as this

Greenpeace says that Susan Hall, the Tories’ candidate for London Mayor, is a member of at least six of the groups, including one covering Bromley.

Anneliese Dodds, the Labour Party’s chair, said that Hall’s presence in the groups suggested she has “tacitly endorsed antisemitism, Islamophobia, violent threats and incitement to criminal damage”. Much like Mayor Perry’s and “Congo” Chris Philp’s appears to have done in Croydon, too.

Hundreds of expensive CCTV cameras have been damaged over the past nine months, including one instance where a lamppost carrying a ULEZ camera was bombed.

Just as journalists from Inside Croydon and Private Eye had done in Croydon last summer, reporters from Greenpeace infiltrated six of the largest anti-ULEZ groups, where they found dozens of examples of racist or Islamophobic posts and comments.

ULEZ was extended to outer London in August 2023. Most of the cesspit content found by Greenpeace was posted between January and April this year.

Islamophobic and racist posts and comments discovered include describing the capital as “Londonistan” (a particular favourite of Trump supporters), as well as references to the city being “overrun and being run by a load of foreigners”.

Conservative common factor: Tory councillor Rachel Cromie

They also found posts calling for action to protect “a future for white children” – a known white supremacist slogan.

“The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, is the target of racist or abusive posts in many of the groups analysed, with comments describing him an ‘Islamist’, a ‘terrorist sympathiser’, and calling him a ‘Khaki Punt’,” Greenpeace said.

An image with the Mayor of London’s picture photoshopped on to a urinal was posted in two of the groups, while another commenter posted that they would pay to get him “popped”.

A common denominator of the groups surveyed found that they avoided saying that they were set up by the Conservatives as part of a coordinated political campaign.

But as Inside Croydon reported last September, the groups’ admins are made up almost entirely of Conservative Party members and officials. Croydon’s group had Mayor Perry as “admin” and “group expert”, along with Councillor Luke Shortland, whose day job is as a communications officer for the Greater London Authority.

Greenpeace has confirmed that all 36 of the groups, including Croydon’s, have among their admins Rachel Cromie.

Cromie is a Tory councillor in Haywards Heath. Her register of interests lists Conservative campaign HQ in a section on employment and she has previously been described as an area campaign manager for the party.

“Another Conservative party employee, who has been one of its digital campaign managers since February this year, is an administrator of 27 groups,” The Observer reported yesterday.

The Observer “also found Tory activists posting in the groups without declaring their political affiliation… The approach appears to have enabled the targeting of political messages at certain groups without the need to follow Facebook transparency rules, which require formal ads to carry a disclaimer.”

Scroll of honour: six group admins, but none of then seem capable of condemning acts of criminal vandalism or racism

Greenpeace reports: “The closed groups – which have a combined membership of 38,000 – have been a forum for Islamophobic attacks on Labour’s London Mayor Sadiq Khan, with members calling him a ‘terrorist sympathiser’ and a ‘khaki punt’…

“Other posts promote white supremacist slogans, antisemitic conspiracy theories and have encouraged the destruction of ULEZ enforcement cameras.”

And The Observer reported: “The Conservative party said it would review its ‘processes and policies’ regarding Facebook groups in light of the findings. It did not say whether the running of the groups had been funded centrally or comment on the failure to make clear they were linked to the Tories.

“A spokesperson distanced CCHQ from the racist and abusive comments, saying the party ‘unequivocally condemns all discriminatory language, and never encourages nor condones vandalism or criminal activity’.”

Which was a bit like the insincere denials and distancing offered by Perry and Philp last year when they were caught. It didn’t stop them continuing to be involved with the Croydon anti-ULEZ group, though…

Philp has been MP for Croydon South since 2015.

He is among seven Conservative MPs who have been found to be members of groups in the network. Philp, still trying to work out whether Rwanda and Congo are different countries, came up with similar platitudes again for the Unearthed journalists, saying that he condemned unacceptable abuse and endorsement of criminal damage.

Philp was not asked why, if he thinks so badly of such comments and behaviour, he has not ever said so explicitly on the Croydon Say No To ULEZ Expansion page, nor quit the page to truly distance himself from its “cesspit” content.

Readers of Inside Croydon can draw their own conclusions.

Read more: Perry’s Facebook group hosted video by Islamophobic ‘comic’
Read more: Met appeals for witnesses after two arrests over ULEZ bomb
Read more: Perry should apologise for anti-ULEZ Facebook group says MP
Read more: Tory minister is member of online group that salutes vandals

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