A council in Romney Marsh have said that they condemn racism and Islamophobia "in the strongest possible terms" after one of their councillors was suspended from his party for 'Islamophobic' social media posts.

The statement from New Romney Town Council (NRTC) comes after Cllr Mike Hardy was suspended from the Conservative party due to a number of controversial posts several years ago.

However, Town Mayor and Council Chairman Cllr Paul Thomas has insisted that they cannot suspend or sack Cllr Hardy from the council.

In a media statement, Cllr Thomas said: "On Thursday 14th November, New Romney Town Councillor Mike Hardy issued a statement to all NRTC councillors that he had been suspended by his political party, pending an investigation by his party into alleged Islamophobia and racism.

The basis of the allegations were social media comments he made prior to becoming a New Romney Town Councillor in May 2019.

"Our councillors sit as independent, without regard to any political party.

"NRTC condemns, in the strongest possible terms, any words or actions that relate to any form of Islamophobia, racism or hate crime.

'I want to hereby refute... that I am in any way racist or Islamophobic...'- Cllr Mike hardy

"The behaviour of councillors is governed by the standards regime introduced by the Localism Act 2011, and NRTC does not have the power to suspend or sack any democratically elected Councillor."

Cllr Mike Hardy, who was suspended by the Conservative party pending an investigation into the posts, has vehemently denied being Islamaphobic.

In a post on Facebook, he said: "I want to hereby refute, utterly and unequivocally, that I am in any way racist or Islamophobic.

"There is not a racist or Islamophobic bone in my body, a point I shall contest more publicly when I am permitted to do so.

"I am deeply hurt and offended by the allegations, so made.

"My wife is part Pakistani and part German. I have taught, and continue to teach, students of all nations and every colour for many years, including several Muslims with whom I have a very close relationship, to which they will attest.

"I have spent 23 years making television documentaries, fighting and exposing Islamophobia, racism, misogyny and all bigotry within the English Defence League, the British Nationalist Party, Fathers 4 Justice and other far right organisations, causes and programs for which I was twice nominated for a Royal Television Society Award.

"Whilst I accept that my views may be deemed by some to be somewhat strong I, again, vehemently deny that the comments I made can be termed as Islamophobic, racist or bigoted in any way and that they have completely been taken out of any context and entirely misconstrued.

"That someone had to go as far back as 10 years into my life in order to unearth and reproduce, in isolation and without any explanation, comments which I maintain were entirely justifiable given their actual context and motivation, rather flies in the face of any assertion that I am in any way racist or Islamophobic.

"These allegations are merely part of a smear campaign orchestrated and undertaken by Labour activists as has been well documented elsewhere in the National press.

'These allegations are merely part of a smear campaign...'- Cllr Mike Hardy

"Whilst I am happy to apologise to anyone who asserts to have been offended by my comments, I shall continue to fight and defend the allegations made against me.

"I cannot, for impositions being made by the National Conservative Party, currently discuss in any detail or elaborate further on them."

The Conservative Party have been contacted for comment.

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