Our letter to the people backing Nazi-sympathising candidate for MP

Richard House & Marcus Blackett have nominated the Cheltenham resident, who shares Hitler quotes and promotes the idea we should have fought on Hitler’s side, not against him

Dear Richard, Marcus, and associates,

We note that Richard House and Marcus Blackett have nominated and seconded an individual, Saskia Whitfield, as Independent candidate for Stroud in the General Election.

We also note that the “Info Hub” stall on the High Street has a large banner encouraging people to vote for Independent candidates, and the same recommendation is made in “The “Light” paper that you distribute from the stall.

We have looked at the candidate Richard and Marcus have nominated, Saskia Whitfield.

On her social media, Saskia Whitfield quotes Hitler. She denies there was any deliberate massacre of Jews in the Holocaust. She promotes claims that Britain’s Allies “fought on the wrong side” in WW2 and “should have fought with the fascists…not the other way round”, mentioning that her grandfather was “in the Luftwaffe”. She repeatedly shares a fascist history website headed with a Joseph Goebbels quote from January 1945 about a “Jewish Clique”. She states that LGBTQ “Pride Is A Sin”. She repeatedly puts forward the idea that Hitler “cleaned up perverted Berlin” and that “once again” it’s time to do the same. [scroll or click to see screenshots below].

These are not cherry-picked nor very old comments – not that that would be OK. Most of them are very recent, and there are many more in this vein.

We think most people in Stroud will be as appalled as us at the idea that someone with these ideas should be put forward as a potential Member of Parliament for the area.

1. Were you aware that she held these ideas? Or did you propose her as a candidate without checking her social media output?
2. As you have nominated her candidacy, please tell us if you support these ideas? 
3. Where did Whitfield get the idea these views might find a receptive audience in Stroud?
4. Do you still support her candidacy? 

We look forward to your response, which we will make public alongside this letter [see below],

Yours sincerely,

Community Solidarity Stroud District

Copied to Stroud News and Journal, Stroud Times, Amplify Stroud

Responses

We sent our open letter above to Richard House, Marcus Blackett and the media organisations listed at 8.56pm on Sunday 23rd June 2024. As of Wednesday 26th June, the only substantive replies we have received from people who nominated and seconded the candidate are as follows:

• At 10.47pm on Sunday 23rd June, Marcus Blackett said: “which social media please? There’s nothing on FaceBook”
• At 11.42am on Monday 24th June, Marcus Blackett asked “can you please provide references, thank you.”

We sent the screenshots published below at 1.03pm on Tuesday 25th June, before receiving the following response:

• At 11.24am on Tuesday 25th June, Marcus Blackett said “my comment is: sheer puerilty and Richard via text as he is on holiday is: We will not be timetabled by any arrogantly dictated ‘deadlines’“

We had not mentioned any deadlines, only that the letter had been copied to local media. If we receive further substantive responses from those who nominated and seconded the candidate, we may publish them here.

• On Saturday 29th June, Marcus Blackett handed a member of our group a leaflet by Saskia Whitfield, Independent candidate for MP. It is titled “A Truth-seeking Prospective MP for Stroud” but the content implies it is a response to our piece above. We have published her response via a photo below, but wish to make some introductory remarks to it:

We are a group of local people who politely asked questions of those who have nominated a candidate for MP with a record of nasty social media posts. The characterisation of our group as authoritarian or interested in censorship, manipulated by some external conspiracy, or opposed to all “who question mainstream narratives” is false. The Holocaust is a historic fact – not merely a narrative. The Nazis were authoritarians who burned books – this was not a matter of “cleaning up perverted Berlin” but censorhip and authoritarianism. We believe believe Saskia Whitfield’s record of posts on social media is relevant to her suitability as candidate for local MP – this is not a question of “character assassination” but basic scrutiny of someone who wants to represent a constituency of over 100,000 people.

It is rare that we recommend even a paragraph from “The Light” paper distributed by the ‘Info Hub’ stall including people who have nominated Saskia Whitfield, but they did issue some good advice this month to “study the statements of individual, and especially independent, candidates, demand answers to questions they might seek to avoid, and vote for them according to their individual merits and character“. We think that the examples from her social media [screenshots are below] provide clear indications about Saskia Whitfield’s “merits and character”. The idea that they represent a “courageous committment” to “truth” is preposterous.

In neither her latest leaflet nor any email we have received from people who nominated Saskia Whitfield is any apology is made for the social media posts we identified, nor is any attempt made to distance herself from the views contained within them. Instead, her leaflet reads as an attempt to present Holocaust denial, antisemitism, and support for fascism as the obvious result of research into family history. This is odd because you’d expect someone researching the period would come across the evidence and arguments that show these things not to be “the Truth” but discredited conspiracy theories and prejudice. Her firm statements are laughably presented as “always provisional” “research-based conclusions”. We encourage people not to fall for this attempt to make Saskia Whitfield’s nasty social media output appear acceptable or reasonable – no matter the number of words, pretensions of academic language, or attempts to appeal to those interested in alternative ideas. No pasaran!

Palestine Solidarity Campaign – Stroud District statement

• On the 1st July, the local branch of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign posted the below on their Facebook page:

Evidence

Content warning – antisemitism and homophobia.

What follows is a small selection of representative posts by Saskia Whitfield. They are not cherry picked, and not old. There are many other recent posts in a similar vein. They are deeply unpleasant and we choose to share only the bare minimum necessary to make the point.

Saskia Whitfield quotes Hitler

She denies there was any deliberate massacre of the Jews, by sharing comprehensively debunked theories about the gas chambers, as well as numerous other posts with other familiar holocaust denial tropes

She promotes claims that Britain’s Allies “fought on the wrong side” in WW2 and “should have fought with the fascists…not the other way round”, mentioning that her grandfather was “in the Luftwaffe”.

She repeatedly shares a fascist history website headed with a Joseph Goebbels quote from January 1945 about a “Jewish Clique”.

She states that LGBTQ “Pride Is A Sin”.

She repeatedly puts forward the idea that Hitler “cleaned up perverted Berlin” and that “once again” it’s time to do the same.