Hatton Adventure World boss 'devastated' after Twitter racism allegations
THE wife of a key figure in the Vote Leave campaign has been left ‘devastated’ after being accused of racism.
Johnnie Arkwright said his wife, Arabella, who own the Hatton Estate, including Hatton Adventure World, had been naïve in her social media activity, which saw her share anti-Muslim posts.
It emerged earlier this week that Arabella, who was forced to quit her own role on the board of Vote Leave, retweeted an image of a white girl in the middle of a group of people wearing burqas saying: “Britain 2050: why didn’t you stop them Grandad?”
Other retweets from her now-deleted account included a link from Tommy Robinson, the founder of the English Defence League, suggesting UK Muslims were trying to build an Islamic State in Britain.
Another retweet came in response to a Twitter user saying they would never eat tikka masala again if it “got seventh-century barbaric savagery” out of Britain. A reply from Arkwright’s account said: “No to Sharia law. By by [sic] tikka masala .”
Her husband Johnnie is the owner of the Hatton Estate, including Hatton Adventure World, and chairman of pro-Brexit group Business for Britain West Midlands. He was also due to be a panelist at last Thursday's live Herald debate at Stratford-upon-Avon ArtsHouse, which was cancelled in the wake of the killing of Jo Cox MP.
He told the Herald on Tuesday: “Arabella is devastated.
“I don’t think she realised what the implications of retweeting these things were. She only joined Twitter last year for the purpose of the EU Referendum debate and is not very social media savvy.
“She abhors any form of racism, but in politics you have to be savvy, it’s a brutal world at times, and she has been tripped up massively.
“People have different opinions on the referendum and when they get a tweet, as Arabella has, she felt others needed to see what was being tweeted, it is about circulating all parts of the debate. She felt people needed to know what these people were saying.
“She’s devastated. There is not a racist bone in her.
“She has received a lot of lovely messages from people who know her, people who know these are not her personal views or beliefs.
“People know she would never endorse racism. This is a case of naivety and ignorance to the effect of retweeting. She has been tripped up proper.
"It has been an emotive few days. She intended to delete her account on Friday anyway, but it has come a little earlier than planned that she has tweeted her last and deleted her account.
”If she had been more social media savvy, Arabella would have understood the implications of re-tweeting and never have contemplated including those particular tweets among the many that are forwarded every day.”
The tweets were initially reported in The Guardian on Monday night.
When they emerged, Arabella, herself, said: “I am absolutely appalled that there should be any underlying suggestion that I have any racist tendencies.
“I would like to make it absolutely clear that my rewteets and forwarding do not mean that I endorse in any way the content of them. I retweet a wide variety of different views on issues related to the referendum with which I do not agree in order that others can see the breadth of opinion on these matters.
“Is there anything wrong in that?
“You will note that my retweets are seldom accompanied by comments from me except Syrian Christians, who it was being widely reported at the time were being tortured for their faith.
“I am not a political animal and maybe I am guilty of being naive, but I reject all prejudice and am deeply sorry for any offence that may have been caused.
“Moreover, perhaps I can be clear, I abhore any form of racism.
“I do not want the last three days of the campaign to be affected in any way by arguments about Twitter so I have resigned from the Vote Leave Board.”
Meanwhile the boss of Gaydon-based Aston Martin has sent a memo to all 1,800 staff outlining the economic arguments in favour of leaving the EU or remaining part of it, while pointing that the company will not be declaring its position on the referendum.
Mr Palmer states: "It is clear that an exit from the EU could have a negative impact on the overall UK economy, albeit with potential for some offsets through currency depreciation which would benefit an exporter like Aston Martin. In either instance of leave or remain, Aston Martin will adapt to the prevailing economic conditions."
He concludes: "I continue to regard this as a very personal decision. For that reason, Aston Martin will not be declaring its position on this referendum, other than to encourage you to vote on June 23rd."
