Jewish leaders have declined an offer from the Conservatives to meet with a former antisemitic internet troll as Kemi Badenoch defended his selection as a council candidate.
Joshua Bonehill-Paine has been selected to fight the Crewkerne South ward in Somerset next May.
The Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Jewish Leadership Council (JLC) turned down the offer to meet with Mr Bonehill-Paine, but said they would meet with the Conservatives to “discuss their decision-making process” and urge them to drop him as a candidate.
Mr Bonehill-Paine was jailed in 2016 after he was convicted of racially aggravated harassment of Labour peer Baroness Luciana Berger, who is Jewish.
He was previously jailed for producing an advert for a neo-Nazi rally illustrated with a picture of Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz which promised “an absolute gas”.
But he has since apologised for his past offending, and said he has now dedicated himself to “challenging the wave of hatred British Jews continue to face”.
In a joint statement, the Board of Deputies and the JLC said they had declined an invitation to meet Mr Bonehill-Paine, describing him as “a former neo-Nazi with criminal convictions for antisemitic hatred”.
“The severity of Joshua Bonehill-Paine’s crimes targeting Luciana Berger and others means that he still faces ongoing legal restrictions.
“Whilst we do believe in the possibility of rehabilitation, this should not in this case entail selection as a candidate for a major political party, and the impact of this decision on the victims ought to be a central consideration.
“We have agreed to meet the Conservative Party to discuss their decision-making processes and to urge them to rescind this decision.”
Mrs Badenoch defended Mr Bonehill-Paine’s selection on Wednesday, saying she believed he had been rehabilitated.
She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I am extremely worried about antisemitism and what I feel is that if we can’t have the people who have previously been radicalised, who understand what went wrong and are part of the fight against antisemitism now, if we’re saying: ‘No, no, no, you’re untouchable,’ then how can we pretend that we believe in rehabilitation?”
But she suggested she would not allow him to stand as a parliamentary candidate.
Mrs Badenoch told Today: “I’m not giving him a national platform; he is standing to be a councillor in Somerset… it is a local platform looking at parking, sorting out bins.
“I have much higher thresholds for what it takes to be a Conservative MP.”
Mr Bonehill-Paine’s selection has been criticised by the Board of Deputies, whose vice president Karen Newman said it “beggars belief”.
The Conservatives offered the board, which represents British Jews, a meeting with Mr Bonehill-Paine, but it is understood the group has declined the offer.
The selection has also been criticised by Lady Berger herself, who said she did not believe he “should have any role in public life – because of both his racism and his view of women”.
She told Today: “There’s a big difference between going back into society and teaching others possibly about what you did and why it was wrong, to making the leap to standing for public office.
“I think there’s a massive distinction there and this is not just one-off hurty words. This is a man that engaged and indulged in a sustained campaign, not just against me, but many others.”
Green Party leader Zack Polanski argued no one should be pushed out of public life permanently when asked whether he believes in rehabilitation following the Tories’ appointment.
He told a press conference in Westminster: “I do believe in rehabilitation. I think someone can say something or even do something and make a mistake.
“Now, I think the important point is that we don’t just apologise and move on, there has to be a clear recognition of what they did wrong and what they’re going to do in the future to rectify it.
“I don’t believe anyone should be pushed out of public life permanently. I do believe that there has to be spaces for people to rehabilitate, no matter what they say or no matter how heinous what they do is.”
Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper said Mr Bonehill-Paine’s selection was “absolutely outrageous”.
She told LBC: “I think Kemi Badenoch really ought to deselect this guy, and the fact that she is standing by him just speaks volumes about her priorities.”
