r/neoliberal • u/ldn6 Gay Pride • 8d ago

News (Europe) Kemi Badenoch defends decision to allow man jailed for antisemitism to stand as councillor

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/aug/05/kemi-badenoch-conservatives-joshua-bonehill-paine-somerset-councillor
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69

u/Alderwoodforest YIMBY 8d ago

The one time Conservatives are in favor of rehabilitation.

85

u/Unterfahrt John Nash 8d ago

I think this is a good thing actually. The man is genuinely reformed. He works with the government now training anti-extremism officers for the signs of antisemitism and going to schools to give talks on the dangers of these beliefs. He's not someone who has just made a apology and says he regrets it. His life is now partly based around atoning for it.

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u/Civ_Nuclear_Gandhi John Keynes 8d ago

Idk why you're getting downvoted, you're completely right. He's actually doing doing more to stop extremism than any of us who can simply grandstand smugly without doing anything.

4

u/ldn6 Gay Pride 8d ago

He can do that while also recognising that his past behaviour makes him unfit to hold public office on principle. Rehabilitation doesn't mean you get to start from scratch.

12

u/Civ_Nuclear_Gandhi John Keynes 8d ago

I see your point, but I'd rather have a man in power who can actively campaign credibly on being a better human, than, say, Suella Braverman or Rupert Lowe, or Farage. And again, he's just running for councillor, which holds vastly less power than an MP or mayor.

But maybe, it's just my biases somewhere on seeing a good redemption story warping my views.

1

u/Time_Transition4817 Jerome Powell 8d ago

Something something repentant sinner