Labour has acted swiftly to suspend a candidate who accused King Charles of being a sexual criminal in a tweet from his personal account. But Conservative MPs have told Express.co.uk about their disgust over the behaviour of David Beckett, a candidate in Darlington.
Mr Beckett was suspended by Labour after he Tweeted: “Are we seriously being asked to swear that we will ‘pledge allegiance to his Majesty, [his] heirs and successors according to law’?
“There isn’t a chance in hell of me giving such an affirmation to a n***e.”
Beckett’s slur was in response to the idea that people would join together across the country to acclaim their oath of allegiance to the new King.
The story was first picked up by the Northern Echo and Labour appears to have acted swiftly to suspend the candidate who cannot be taken off the ballot paper for tomorrow’s election.
After the row broke out Mr Beckett’s Twitter account went offline.
In a statement the Darlington Labour group said: “We have been notified by Labour’s Governance and Legal Unit that one of our candidates has been suspended from the party regarding conduct on social media.
“We will not be commenting further on this individual case any further, while this investigation is ongoing.
“Darlington Labour do not agree with or endorse the comments made by this individual in this case.
“We hold our councillors and candidates to a high standard and apologise unequivocally for the offence caused in this instance.”
But Conservative MPs seized the row as proof that the Corbynistas remain the real face of Labour.
North East Tory MP Richard Holden said: “Sir Keir Starmer says Labour have changed from the Corbynite anti-Monarchy anti-Jewish mob he backed all the way in 2017 and 2019 but it’s clear they’re the same Labour he campaigned so hard for when he tried to make Jeremy Corbyn Prime Minister when he was at his right hand side in his shadow cabinet.”
Dudley North MP Marco Longhi added: “This typical of people who make up the Labour Party. They try to come across as patriotic and monarchists but their mask always slips, as sure as night follows day.
“This slur is defamatory and it shows that the Labour Party can’t pretend to be supportive of the Royal family – even Keir Starmer was on video saying he was anti-monarchy, hence his words in the chamber today rang so hollow, as they always do.”
