A Tory councillor has been suspended after he dubbed his home town ‘Chaffrica’.
In remarks on the Facebook networking website, he compared the town to an EastEnders storyline with ‘murderers, rapists, concerned ethnic minorities and gay men’.
Neil Rockliffe, who represents Chafford Hundred ward on Thurrock Council in Essex, claimed he was talking about his overgrown ‘jungle’ garden, denied that the comments were racist and said it had been ‘blown out of proportion’.
The Conservative group on Thurrock Council has suspended Mr Rockliffe while an investigation is carried out.
Mr Rockliffe is thought to have been on holiday last month when he posted on his Facebook page that he was ‘missing Chaffrica’.
He said: ‘Thinking the scriptwriters of EastEnders must live on Chafford Hundred ... has all the ingredients ... murderers, rapists, concerned ethnic minorities, gay men etc, etc.’
He said the comments were not intended to be public statements as his Facebook profile can be seen only by ‘friends’ and added: ‘I apologise for any offence caused.
'I absolutely refute the suggestion this was some kind of subliminal racist comment.’
The leader of the Conservative group at Thurrock Council, Garry Hague, said: ‘We are taking this extremely seriously.’
Daily Mail
