This article originally appeared on Shaun Bailey's website. Shaun is a London wide GLA Member and the 2021 Conservative Mayoral candidate.
The Tory candidate for mayor of London has condemned a “horrific” homophobic “acid attack” in Dalston, after its cowardly perpetrators were jailed last month.
In an interview with the Gazette Mr Bailey also said he can put 1,800 extra police on the street without needing extra funding, protect “precious bus routes”, and work with Labour councils to find “more sites to house local people” in a mix of socially rented and market value properties.
But a string of historical comments on topics such as multiculturalism, abortion and the benefit system have marred is campaign to win-over London’s liberal voters ahead of the mayoral election in May 2020.
In one example, a Telegraph opinion piece in 2006, Bailey stated: “Any young girl living in the inner city will be clued up on how the system works.
“They won’t be too careful about not becoming parents. In some cases, they will deliberately become pregnant - as they know that if they do, they will get a flat.[..]
“It is the same with benefits. These people are not stupid. If the state offers them money for doing something, they will do it.”
When asked why he made these inflammatory remarks, Mr Bailey said: “I never said that. I was having a conversation with some people who were pregnant.[...]
“What I was talking about is don’t let yourself be vulnerable.