Anger at Tory councillor appearing to call benefit claimants 'great unwashed' in leaked WhatsApp

A Conservative councillor has been criticised after leaked WhatsApp messages appeared to show him refer to people on benefits as "the great unwashed".

Jonathan Emsell, a member of Broadland District Council in Norfolk, made the remarks in a discussion with fellow local Tories about what Labour would do if the party won the next election.

His message, which was leaked to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, said: “Benefits will go up so the great unwashed will moan less.”

The message has triggered a political row, with Labour rivals describing the comments as “incredibly offensive”, while Mr Emsell's own party leader at Broadland also condemned his use of the phrase.

Mr Emsell, however, denied that the phrase was directed at people on benefits themselves but rather the "socialist mob" of Labour politicians and members who he said had been abusive about Conservatives in the past and made worse comments in public.

“I said it to other Conservatives, not to you. I don’t see how it is your business," Mr Emsell, who has been a councillor for Thorpe St Andrew since 2011, told the LDRS.

“I said it in the context of it being about the socialist mob, not all people on benefits. That chat was in a Conservative group with people who know me.

“It’s not about all the people on benefits, it’s about the people happy to call us Tory scum who revel in the fact that we will not be elected [at the next general election].

“You just want to make me out to show me attacking people on benefits but I didn’t.”

He singled out Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner who referred to Tories as “scum”, and Natasha Harpley, leader of the Labour group at BDC, who has been pictured wearing a T-shirt with the slogan “You’re never more than 10 feet from a Tory”, with the picture of a rat.

The message was leaked from a WhatsApp group called Norwich Conservatives.

Mr Emsell said that people in the group would understand the context of his comment and he would not use the phrase in public.

The choice of words was criticised by Fran Whymark, the Conservative leader on the council.

“Jon needs to realise that anything you say could be put into the public domain and how that could be used," said Mr Whymark.

“That is not the term that I would use, not at all. I think I know what he is trying to say there. Jon is trying to refer to people who may not be wanting to work or contribute to society but want to take from society.

“We need to be realistic that there are a small number of people that don’t want to work when work is available, which is a shame.”

Mr Emsell added: “If I had my way everyone on benefits would have to produce receipts. If they want to have any money they should have to say what they are using it for and the benefits people can make sure they are spending it on food, not cigarettes, gambling or tattoos.”

Government statistics show that more than two-fifths of the people claiming Universal Credit (UC) – just one type of benefit – in Broadland are in work.

The message was leaked by a Conservative activist who said the comments had "no place in the party", adding that no one in the 70-strong group chat had criticised the phrase.

One member responded to the comment with a "thumbs up" sign.

Chloe Smith, Mr Emsell’s MP, refused to comment but said she was not in the group.

Ms Harpley, who was singled out for criticism by Mr Emsell, said the comment showed "contempt for ordinary people".

“The majority of people in receipt of [all types of] benefits are actually working, yet due to a culture created by his party of government, are forced to rely on various benefits to top up their poverty wages and help towards their extortionate living expenses.”

• The message in full:

“Unfortunately our MPs have let us down, everyone knows that Labour will not do any better but feeling is they cannot do worse than our lot.

“With the media on their side it will look better, we will hear less about cost of living crisis. All the unions will calm down and have all their discussions in private.

“Benefits will go up so the great unwashed will moan less.

“Our lot thought running a country would be easy, which it is if you have the balls to make the hard decisions and get things sorted”.

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