The Brexit Party is standing by a candidate whose social media feed has reportedly warned about a Muslim ‘takeover’ of Britain and complained of anti-white ‘racism’.
Dionne Cocozza, the party’s candidate in Glasgow North, has now deleted her account, but anti-far right watchdog Hope Not Hate say they had sight of it prior to its disappearance.
“Much of Cocozza’s Twitter is dedicated to painting a negative picture of Muslims and immigration into the UK and Europe,” said the watchdog.
A Brexit Party spokesperson said the main problem was she “expresses herself inelegantly” and that it will continue to back her.
Cocozza has regularly shared materials from far-right sites such as Voice of Europe, YouTuber Paul Joseph Watson, and the now-defunct trump-train.com, said Hope Not Hate.
In one screenshot purportedly from Cocozza’s account, she retweeted a Twitter user who said: “Sorry but I heard a Muslim say, we get elected then slowly we takeover. Happened in Belgium, Sweden and Germany.”
The watchdog also says Cocozza shared a Voice of Europe tweet in October 2018 stating: “Germany will become African and Islamic if mass migration isn’t stopped.”
Another theme prevalent on Cocozza’s account, says Hope Not Hate, is white oppression or the belief that white people are victims of racism.
She called Labour’s David Lammy “anti-white” after he posted a tweet criticising Desmond Swayne after pictures emerged of the Conservative MP in blackface.
Lammy was “enticing hate on the whites of today that were not born when this happened. You keep the racism fuelled with [sic] your gobby big mouth & anti-white tweets”, she reportedly posted.
In another row, she reportedly said: “You can’t say anything if your white 2019”.
The Brexit Party spokesperson said: “We do not endorse any views that appear to be anti Islamic or anti any religion.
“However Ms Cocozza informs me that she was trying to highlight injustices in the world, she is not racist, her daughter’s partner is Muslim and she employes Polish workers.
“I fear her crime is that she expresses herself inelegantly and accordingly has said she will take down her Twitter account.”
The spokesperson added that he had informed Cocozza of “the error of her ways”.
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