CHANGE UK have been forced to drop one of their Scottish candidates for next month’s elections amid a row over racism.
Glasgow University tutor Joseph Russo had been unveiled at the top of the list of The Independent Group’s slate of Scottish hopefuls and becomes the second candidate to part ways with the party 24 hours since yesterday's unveiling of the candidates.
READ MORE: Change UK candidate quits over 'Romanian pickpocket' slur
But in a series of tweets uncovered by the Red Robin website, Russo appeared to criticise the prosecution of a teacher who had sex with a pupil, he also said the police arrest of Gary Glitter was a "low hanging fruit", described colleague Anna Soubry as "Thatcher 2.0" and called the owner of Dominoes as a "loony catholic."
He also claimed that he was scared of black women.
In one tweet, he said: “Black women scare me. I put this down to be chased through Amsterdam by a crazy black whore.”
Russo didn’t apologise for the comments, but said he was stepping down because he hadn’t realised that past comments would be scrutinised.
He tweeted: “I have not stood for elected office before. Though it was a privilege to have been selected for the Independent Group.
“I have found the last 24hrs exhausting and was not fully prepared for the level of personal scrutiny I'd be under.
“As a result, and in the interests of my mental health I have decided not to proceed with my candidacy. I wish the remaining ChangeUK candidates the best of luck in their bid to change politics and ensure Scotland has a stong pro-remain voice in the European Parliament.”
Russo is the second candidate to be dropped by Change UK in less than 24 hours.
Ali Sadjady, a former Tory who was standing for the party in London, said he was tempted to support Brexit because it would stop Romanian pickpockets coming to the UK.
“When I hear that 70% of pick pockets caught on the London Underground are Romanian it kind makes me want Brexit,” Sadjady had said in a tweet from November 2017.
Earlier this year, when the party first launched, one of its MPs, Angela Smith, caused uproar by describing people from ethnic monitories of as having a “funny tinge” in a discussion about racism and skin colour on live TV.
Smith later apologised for having “misspoke”.
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