The ‘toxic’ messages that reveal Reform candidate’s anti-abortion views
Reform UK’s candidate to take on Andy Burnham in a crunch by-election once said women get abortions for “vanity purposes” and use them as a “secondary form of contraception”.
A file of past social media posts, seen by The i Paper, reveals Councillor Robert Kenyon aired anti-abortion views, including claims that women rely on them so they can “shag anyone they want”.
The 41-year-old self-employed plumber is the main challenger the Greater Manchester Mayor faces as he attempts to return to Parliament as an MP in the Makerfield by-election on 18 June.
Burnham is expected to take on Sir Keir Starmer for the Labour leadership in an attempt to take over as prime minister if he sees off Reform’s strong challenge to win the seat.
Kenyon, who represents the Bryn with Ashton-in-Makerfield North ward on Wigan Borough Council, has already faced questions around his social media activities and controversial links, including a Facebook friendship with Gary Raikes, a former organiser for the British National Party and founder of the New British Union, a group which describes itself as seeking to “restore faith in fascism”.
On a now-defunct rugby league discussion forum, Kenyon in 2019 wrote on his account: “I agree totally with the anti-abortion stance, it’s legalised killing of babies.”
In the UK, abortion is legal up to 24 weeks of pregnancy with the approval of two doctors, and later in limited circumstances, such as risk to the woman’s life. Last year, British MPs voted to change criminal laws that govern abortion in England and Wales so that women who procure an abortion outside of the legal framework cannot be prosecuted.
Political debate around abortion rights has intensified since the controversial overturning of Roe v Wade by the US Supreme Court in 2022, which means abortion laws vary widely by state in America.
Kenyon attacked women as promiscuous and accused them of taking any decision to have an abortion lightly, in a later post on the same 2019 discussion thread. He wrote: “Reproductive rights? Women’s rights? They can dress it up all they want they are deciding to kill a baby inside the womb… What they mean is they want to shag anyone they want and if they get caught they get a second chance and treat is [sic] as a secondary last chance form of contraception. They ain’t kidding anyone”.
Later responding to the same discussion, Kenyon wrote: “I’d hazard a guess that the majority [of abortions] are for vanity purposes like unwanted pregnancies.”
The i Paper has seen screenshots of the comments, plus other posts in which he mentions a Twitter (now X) profile that has been linked to him with the handle “robkenyon1” and promotes his debut novel, The Blood Waltz by Rob Kenyon, about a British soldier who time travels to 1940 and takes on the Nazis.
In 2022, Kenyon wrote on his now-deleted robkenyon1 Twitter/X account saying: “Life begins at conception. Abortion is the cowardly act of murdering a defenceless baby … They don’t want babies? Use contraception [sic]!”
A Reform spokesman said abortion was a matter of conscience and that his comments were made before he was elected as a councillor in the 7 May local elections.
But Labour Party chair Anna Turley said: “Reform’s Robert Kenyon isn’t fit to represent Makerfield. It’s clear that if he was elected to Parliament, he’d want to strip away the protections in place to support women and their right to choose.”
She added: “Time and again, Nigel Farage and Reform prove they’re not on the side of women. The only way to stop Reform’s toxic politics taking hold in Makerfield is by voting for Labour’s Andy Burnham on Thursday 18 June.”
A Reform UK spokesman said: “These comments were made before Cllr Kenyon entered politics. Rob is perfectly entitled to his own personal opinions on abortion. In this country, this issue has always been a matter of conscience, regardless of which party a politician represents.
“Rob isn’t a polished, professional politician and doesn’t speak like one. That’s precisely why he’ll be a straight-talking, effective voice for normal, working people in Makerfield.”
Reform UK dismissed previous reporting about Kenyon’s social media link to Raikes, the former BNP organiser, as a “pathetic attempt to smear a brilliant candidate”.
“Having a Facebook friend… does not constitute an endorsement of views,” a spokesman said.
المصدر: iNews