A local councillor who recently defected from Reform UK to Restore Britain shared a post on X containing the N-word twice and a reference to politicians on the ‘Jew right’ within days of switching parties.
Kieran Mishchuk, who sits on Swale Borough Council in Kent, said he had not read the post fully before sharing it, claiming he had only noticed the words ‘mass deportations.’
He claimed he had not read it fully before reposting, saying: “I read the bit that said ‘mass deportations’.”
“I might have seen a bit and not read the whole thing. I’m pretty careful with what I repost.”
“I didn’t read the fine print. I saw the gist of what it said, I didn’t read it fully.”
Mishchuk has been prominent in anti-migrant politics in Kent in recent months. He seconded a motion at Swale Borough Council in February which sought to declare a ‘border emergency’ in the borough.
The meeting was disrupted by far-right anti-migrant campaigners who were then backed Reform councillors.
The recent post was deleted but his account of the mishap – that he managed to miss a racial slur positioned at the top left of a 23-word graphic and could hardly be described as ‘fine print’ – was singularly unpersuasive.
Lib Dem councillor Hannah Perkin subsequently proposed that he apologise to the full Swale council.
So far, his response has been limited to an explanation of how he says it happened, rather than an actual apology.
