All the usual excuses used up as Brentwood Conservative quits over online insults

The Brentwood Gazette reports:

A Conservative candidate in the upcoming Brentwood Borough Council elections has resigned over anti-Islamic and homophobic Tweets.

David Bishop posted “It’s good to be anti-Islam” two days before he was cemented as the party’s candidate for the Brentwood South ward in the Brentwood Borough Council elections later this month.

So far, so standard as far as ‘right wing person insults others on social media’ goes. But the story does also include the usual range of instant excuses, all of which fell apart:

When the Gazette approached Mr Bishop over the tweets he had originally claimed his actions were intended to make those posting such views online “look stupid”.

and

Yesterday the chairman of BOCA, Councillor John Kerslake, had suggested to the Gazette Mr Bishop’s account could have been hacked.

But in the end, no it was a case of neither. It was him, they were his views and he’s now no longer a member of the Conservatives.