An ex neo-Nazi who was has been appointed as an adviser for the Conservative Party on tackling radicalisation is embroiled in a fresh row over claims he has government certification for his counter-extremism work.
Joshua Bonehill-Paine was selected by the Tories to fight a council election next year but withdrew his candidacy on Wednesday after backlash. He was convicted in 2015 of racially aggravated harassment of former Labour MP Luciana Berger, who is Jewish, and had also been jailed for stirring up hatred against a north London Jewish community.
Mr Bonehill-Paine insists he has put his past behind him and now works to combat anti-semitism and extremism. He said this month in a post on X that he holds “Home Office certification for my counter-extremism work”, which he claims has taken him “across the country delivering training to police officers, probation services, schools, universities and many other organisations”.
This claim was repeated by Tory leader Kemi Badenoch, who said on that Mr Bonehill-Paine would work to deliver “training certified by the Home Office” for the Tories.
But the Home Office has now thrown doubt on these claims. In a statement on Thursday, a government spokesperson said: “The Home Office does not certify individuals to deliver training.”
They added: “We do provide funding to Civil Society Organisations, who may use individuals to deliver training on preventing extremism that is commissioned by local authorities.”
The Conservative Party has been approached for comment.
Mr Bonehill-Paine also runs a satirical media outlet in support of the Tory party that produces AI videos of famous politicians, called The Crewkerne Gazette. While some are humorous, others are more invasive, such as a recent AI rendering of Andy Burnham crying on the floor in his underpants.
Others, such as recent videos of fake interactions between Mr Burnham and Tory leader Kemi Badenoch at PMQs, are also less obviously AI-generated.
Mr Bonehill-Paine withdrew as a Conservative election candidate after Ms Badenoch offered him a role as a cultural adviser to the party.
He will be an adviser to the Tory party’s culture and integration commission, where he will focus on “how young men become radicalised”.
He said in a statement on Wednesday that he will “support the work the party is doing to rebuild trust with the British people”, adding: “I intend on making a meaningful contribution to tackling extremism and promoting social cohesion”.
Baroness Luciana Berger, who now sits in the House of Lords, reacted to the news that Mr Bonehill-Paine will advise the Conservative party, saying it was “no better than allowing him to stand as a council candidate.”
She added: “It is a privileged and influential national role. As a victim of this man’s heinous crimes this appointment is an insult”.
Foreign secretary Ed Miliband said the Tories had questions to answer, telling broadcasters: “He should never have been a candidate for the Conservative Party, given the harassment that he positioned upon Luciana Berger, a colleague and a friend of mine.
“I think the Conservative Party is going to have to answer for why he’s a candidate in the first place, and also any future activities he might be undertaking on behalf of the Conservative Party.”
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said Mrs Badenoch had shown an “outrageous lack of judgment, doubling down on her support for a former neo-Nazi”.
Labour Party chairwoman Bridget Phillipson also questioned Mrs Badenoch’s judgment, saying: “It beggars belief that Kemi Badenoch was happy for a former neo-Nazi to stand in the first place. That she has gifted him a plum job further adds to that shame.
“It speaks volumes about Badenoch’s judgment and even more about the state of the Conservative Party under her leadership.”
