An anti-Israel and anti-UKIP campaigner who was involved in celebrations after the death of Baroness Thatcher may soon be on the receiving UK taxpayer cash.
Glasgow Council City in Scotland appointed Liam O’Hare, a hard-leftist campaigner who has repeatedly insulted the British flag and mocked the BBC for failing to identify his bias, as a “youth engagement worker.”
O’Hare, a student and unsuccessful student union presidential candidate at the University of Edinburgh, is known for his “direct action” which led to an Israeli diplomat having to cancel a speech at Edinburgh University in 2011.
Ismael Khaldi, a Bedouin Arab diplomat from Israel, was subjected to abuse when speaking at the university, being shouted down and called a “Nazi.” O’Hare and his group, the Radical Independence Campaign, were also responsible for the disruptive, mob-type behaviour during UKIP leader Nigel Farage’s visit to Scotland last year.
Shamefully, Glasgow City council has appointed this radical leftist campaigner to help educate Scottish youth about voting in the the 2014 Scottish Independence Referendum. O’Hare is also an organiser for Bite the Ballot, a supposedly “politically neutral” campaign that encourages voting.
But both Glasgow City Council and Bite the Ballot have indicated that his position may no longer be tenable after the issue was brought to their attention in recent days.
O’Hare has described Britain’s Conservative Party as “scum” and publicly mocked the BBC for allowing him to appear as a “neutral” party. He wrote on his Facebook page: “I made a fleeting appearance on the [BBC] Sunday Politics show today as a ‘neutral commentator’ on a piece about young people and independence… nae laughing!'”
O’Hare has also described Britain’s Union flag as “imperialist” and “blood-stained.” He has also said on Twitter, “What is the positive case for the Union? We need to move into the 21st century and leave the degenerate British state behind.”
David Coburn, a UKIP MEP candidate in Scotland for this year’s European Elections, said: ‘It is outrageous that Glasgow City Council is paying this man – who has proven by his actions to not understand that democracy is about different opinions being freely presented – with taxpayers’ money to promote democracy.”
O’Hare was involved with distasteful protests following the death of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and has boasted about his role in disrupting a 2012 event featuring the Israeli Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Daniel Taub. Hare was formerly the President of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP).
A Glasgow City Council spokesman told the Scottish Daily Mail: “Liam is not a council employee and is only paid by us one day a week in his role as youth engagement officer. His role is to encourage electoral registration, it’s not politically restricted; however it would be clearly inappropriate in his position to try to influence voters.”
A source added: “This will be looked at to see if his services will still be required.”
The job given to O’Hare includes “liaising and working with schools, universities and [further education] establishments to talk about electoral registration,” giving the hard leftist campaigner easy access to voters and resources.
O’Hare wrote an article for the Huffington Post last year ironically entitled, “Beyond the Politics of Resentment,” in which he hypocritically railed against British nationalism but encouraged Scottish nationalism.
UPDATE, 12/02/2014: Glasgow City Council has issued a statement claiming that it would “no longer be requiring the services” of Liam O’Hare.
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