Restore mayoral candidate suspended by professional body

Restore Britain's candidate to be mayor of Greater Manchester has been suspended by his professional body, apparently over social media comments he made about sexual grooming by Pakistani men.

Marlon West, who works as a mental health nurse, was given an 18-month suspension by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) on Friday.

West - who co-wrote a book with his daughter, Scarlett, about rape and sexual abuse she suffered at the hands of Asian men - said he stood by what he said, and has seemingly won the backing of US tech billionaire Elon Musk.

The NMC said it expected professionals to "treat people of all races and nationalities with dignity and respect".

The timing of West's suspension has been called into question by Restore's leader, Rupert Lowe.

He said: "In a discussion on a private Facebook group, Marlon referred to the injuries his daughter received at the hands of one of these [grooming] gangs.

"His 'offending' language was: 'This is what Pakistanis do! After being raped and tortured! My daughter you sicko'.'"

West became a prominent activist about grooming gangs after Scarlett was raped, and co-wrote the book In Plain Sight with her.

He has worked in the NHS since 1994 and has been registered with the NMC since 1998.

In a video he posted on social media, West said: "The Establishment wants to keep me quiet. They want to suppress what I speak about."

He said the suspension had "motivated me to campaign harder and expose more, and make the Establishment accountable".

The NMC said the timing of the suspension was "driven solely by our regulatory processes".

A spokesman said: "We're clear that everyone has the right to freedom of thought and expression.

"We won't take action simply because something a professional has said has caused offence."

The NMC added it would "investigate fully" allegations that "an individual has behaved in a way that represents a serious departure from our standards of performance and conduct".

Musk, who owns the social media platform X and has previously shown support for far-right activists such as Tommy Robinson, shared a letter Lowe had written to the NMC in which the Restore leader criticised West's suspension.

Musk wrote: "It could have been your daughter."

The by-election to find a new mayor of Greater Manchester was called after Andy Burnham stood down in June after winning the Makerfield seat and returning to Parliament.

He became prime minister on Monday after winning the backing of more than 300 Labour MPs.

A full list of the announced candidates standing in the election can be found here.

The contest takes place on 30 July.

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