Old social media posts have revealed that Welsh Labour’s general secretary called a former Liberal Democrat leader a “f**king c*nt” while studying at Bangor University.
Joe Lock has now been branded a “hypocrite” for barring a potential Senedd candidate over inoffensive tweets in support of Jeremy Corbyn when he was the Labour Party’s leader.
A mature student at the time, the recently elected general secretary made the expletive remark about Nick Clegg. He was given a formal reprimand by Labour when the tweets surfaced in 2011.
However, he has now been called a “hypocrite” and a “disgrace” for barring would-be Senedd candidate, Cllr Jamie Pritchard, over a series of inoffensive tweets, Nation Cymru reports.
Joe recently told Cllr Pritchard he would not be included on a shortlist of contenders for the upcoming Caerphilly by-election.
The secretary’s decision followed the discovery of Cllr Pritchard’s historic tweets, in which he showed support for Jeremy Corbyn during his time as Labour Party leader.
In 2011, Joe was Labour’s candidate in the current National Assembly election in Ynys Mon and was reprimanded for the resurfacing of his own old Facebook posts by the Labour Party.
Joe’s decision to bar Jamie Pritchard has been called ‘hypocritical’
Cllr Sean Morgan, who resigned last week as the leader of Caerphilly council and from the Labour Party following the exclusion of Cllr Pritchard from the Caerphilly by-election shortlist, said: “These offensive comments show that Joe Lock is not a fit and proper person to be general secretary of Welsh Labour.
“He barred Jamie Pritchard from putting his name forward on entirely false grounds because he had written tweets that were supportive of Jeremy Corbyn when he was the leader of the party.
“Yet Mr Lock wrote these grossly offensive posts on Facebook. The man is a total hypocrite and a disgrace.”
Joe Lock is a Bangor Uni graduate
Bangor University via Canva
At the time of writing the posts, Joe was a 25-year-old mature student at Bangor University.
The statement calling Nick a “f**king* c*nt” was made during the start of discussions about the formation of the coalition with the Conservatives in 2010.
Another post from the recently elected Welsh Labour general secretary included a link to a website called “Is Thatcher dead yet?”, in which he added, “Can’t be long, fingers crossed.”
In response to a post from a friend which said: “Take it you don’t like the Tories then”, Joe further responded: “I love em, as long as they impaled [sic] on a large spike.”
A Welsh Conservative activist was the one who surfaced the general secretary’s comments.
Other social media statements by Joe included homophobic language.
The posts were branded ‘abusive’ when they surfaced
A Conservative spokesperson, at the time of the posts surfacing, said: “These comments are grossly inappropriate for an Assembly candidate. They are offensive, abusive and completely unacceptable for anyone seeking public office.”
They went on to add that there is “no place in politics for extreme remarks that appear to incite violent behaviour”, urging the Welsh Labour leader and first minister at the time, Carwyn Jones, “to distance himself from these comments as soon as possible and take all appropriate action.”
A Plaid Cymru spokesperson also said at the time: “Carwyn Jones needs to immediately distance himself from the offensive comments made by his Labour Candidate in Ynys Mon.
“Having been actively campaigning with Joe Lock in recent months, it should be a matter of considerable concern and embarrassment for the Labour leader.
“Using this type of language is certainly not appropriate behaviour for a candidate seeking elected office, and we know that people in Ynys Môn will find these comments by the Labour candidate extremely offensive.
“The Labour leader needs to investigate this matter immediately and ensure that the party apologises to the people of Anglesey for their candidate’s behaviour.”
A spokesperson for Welsh Labour said: “We have noticed these comments from Joe Lock, which were made before he was a Labour candidate in this election.
“These comments are totally unacceptable and we have issued Mr Lock with a formal reprimand and a warning about his future conduct, which he has accepted.”
The spokesperson went on to mention that Joe “was a student” when these comments were made, but reinforced that “youth and naivety are no defence for what are clearly inappropriate remarks.”
At the time, Joe said: “I accept completely that I should not have made these comments and I apologise unreservedly to anyone I may have offended.
“I have offered a personal apology to Welsh Labour, the local party and to Carwyn Jones for any embarrassment I may have caused. These were stupid comments and intended for friends, but that is absolutely no excuse.”
Welsh Labour has not yet responded to a request for comment.
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