A student selected to introduce Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn at his local election launch has quit a senior post in a university Labour group after the discovery that she had made a series of racist, anti-Semitic, and homophobic social media posts.
Undergraduate Bethany Barker was the general secretary of Nottingham Labour Students when she welcomed Mr. Corbyn onto the stage in Newark last month.
She stepped down from her post on Tuesday after it emerged she has referred to the “n*gger race”, described a skull cap as a “Jew cap”, and said would “black myself up” on Twitter.
Nottingham Labour Students condemned Miss Barker, who insisted the statements, made between 2012 and 2014, did not represent her views.
Miss Barker was praised by Mr. Corbyn after introducing him to the stage and posed for a selfie with Shadow Education Secretary Angela Rayner at the event, which was also attended by the Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell and Deputy Leader Tom Watson.
Mr. Corbyn said: “Thank you for that introduction Bethany and for all that you do in mobilising our student members in Nottinghamshire.”
In a tweet from 2013, Miss Barker wrote: “I cooked brandon chicken and rice, supporting the n*gger race.”
Days earlier, she posted another message saying: “I hate bbc one, f*cking c*nts black f*cking b*tch I hate everyone #mayday.”
Nottingham Labour Students responded in a statement: “At 2.35pm [on Tuesday] we were made aware of a series of tweets which Bethany Barker had made on a deleted personal Twitter account, which were of a racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic nature from 2012-14.”
Miss Barker also made a statement, saying: “As some of you may have seen on Twitter, some screenshots have resurfaced about what [I] have said in the past. I’m absolutely horrified and beyond disgusted about [sic] these tweets and they are in no representative of the views I hold now.
“I have no recollection of writing these tweets and I am unequivocally sorry for the shadow [that] has been brought over our society because of it. These views are in no way with what I align with today and am beyond upset that I could ever say such things.
“This society has meant so much to me since [I] started university and the Labour Party has been held so strongly in my heart since [I] have been a part of it.”
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.