A disgraced far-right activist who was jailed for electoral fraud earlier this year has had his claim of unfair dismissal against NHS England unanimously rejected.
Steve Uncles – who stood for the English Democrats in the 2010 and 2015 general elections and as a candidate in last year’s Police and Crime Commissioner election – took the organisation to an employment tribunal on the grounds he had been discriminated against.
Uncles, of Shears Close, Wilmington, claimed he had been unfairly treated because of his sex, race and philosophical belief in English Nationalism.
The hearing in Leeds was told in early 2016 Mr Uncles was employed by the NHS as a contractor, however during the hiring process failed to disclose he was standing for the role of PCC and was facing criminal charges. He also stated he would like to be known as Steven Thomas for work purposes.
Last May his line manager Paul Smith was approached by a colleague, David Birkett, who had come across Kent Online articles regarding Uncles’ crimes.
Further research by Mr Smith led him to stories about Uncles saying the best way to deal with the migrant crisis in England was: “To set up a machine gun and take out a few people – that would stop it very quickly and immediately cut dead this tactic.”
He also discovered anti-Islam social media posts on the claimant’s profiles which included ‘#RemoveAllMuslims’, with one reading: “Ethnic cleansing…always happens to Muslims…wonder why?”
The comments were incompatible with NHS value and due to his failure to disclose certain details Uncles – whose standard of work had been high – was summoned to a meeting in London and was sacked.
The 53-year-old claimed the issue regarding his name wouldn’t have been a problem were he of a different race or female. He also said complaint about his comments discriminated against his philosophical belief in English Nationalism.
The panel, led by Employment Judge David Franey, ruled being anti-Islamic and expressing violent solutions to issues of immigration formed no part of English Nationalism and that the claimant’s race and sex played no part in the NHS’ decision.
It concluded the NHS was within its rights to sack Mr Uncles and unanimously rejected his claim.
