North Tyneside Labour & Conservatives have both renewed their calls for Councillor Martin Uren to resign after more offensive social media posts that he shared have been revealed.
The Reform councillor shared posts on TikTok backing plans to “save Europe by removing rights from women” and another post on Facebook that said that Muslins couldn’t be trusted to manage a football team as “the team would be married off and made into slaves”.
A North Tyneside Labour spokesperson said:
βNew leadership for Reform UK in North Tyneside, but still the same old defence of Councillor Martin Uren.
βIf Councillor Uren didnβt agree with the offensive videos he shared, why did he post them in the first place? His explanations have only come after his conduct was exposed publicly. Deleting the videos doesnβt erase the fact he shared them.
βThese posts raise serious concerns about Islamophobia and misogyny. Councillor Uren needs to explain whether he stands by these views and why he shared this material in the first place.”
Councillor John Johnson Leader of North Tyneside Conservatives said:
βWe support calls for Councillor Uren to resign. We have already called for him to go following posts trivialising Auschwitz, insulting Muslims and sharing vile smears against gay parents. The further material now reported only strengthens that case.”
βResidents deserve councillors who treat them with dignity and respect. Sharing material advocating the removal of womenβs rights is utterly unacceptable, and deleting offensive posts does not remove the need to answer for them. “
Councillor Uren has already come under pressure to resign after sharing posts that said that gay couples only adopt children to abuse them. He subsequently deleted the post, apologised and said that he did not agree with the comments.
Both Labour and Conservatives though want Reform North Tyneside’s new leadership to do more, with a North Tyneside Labour Group spokesperson saying:
βReformβs new Leader Richard Oliver and Deputy Leader Chris Croft must make clear whether they consider this acceptable conduct from an elected councillor. New leadership means nothing if the same behaviour continues to be defended.
βThis isnβt simply going to blow over. Reform UK needs to stop making excuses and take action. Councillor Uren should do the decent thing and resign in disgrace. If he refuses, Richard Oliver and Chris Croft must show some leadership and suspend him from the Reform UK Group. The people of North Tyneside deserve better.β
North Tyneside Conservative Group leader Cllr John Johnson backed action saying:
βI wrote to Reformβs new leadership about this issue last week and have yet to receive a reply. They cannot bury their heads in the sand and hope this goes away.
βReformβs new leadership must stop making excuses and suspend Councillor Uren from their group immediately while these matters are investigated. If they continue to defend the indefensible, residents will rightly question their judgement too.
βReform voters deserve better than racist, sexist and homophobic reform councillors. Councillor Uren should resign.β
Councillor Martin Uren has responded saying:
βMany of my Facebook comments are about the failed energy policy both Labour and Tories career politicians have perused over the last 50 years. Nit picking my comments are meaningless, they will only serve Labour bullying tactics and will continue to deflect from the real issues, being, cost of living, over priced energy, over priced rent, injustice in our prison sentencing, the ridiculous early release policy Labour introduced after winning an election!!!
” could go one for a few hours here, NT residents are entitled to better local elected management, which they have not received by its current local political members, many having held there seats for decades!
“By misinterpreting my words on Facebook, doesnβt make Labour look righteous, it simply makes Labour look stupid.β