Neil Wilby Media

A controversial Conservative Party local councillor, a regular on the Neil Wilby Media website, has been forced to reflect ruefully upon his latest gaffes.

Following an article published on 27th November, 2023 (read in full here), Cllr Dave Arnott (pictured above right) who represents the Royton North ward on Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council, fired off an angry email to the chief executive, Harry Catherall, and copied in the Council Leader, Cllr Arooj Shah, amongst others.

The email was headed ‘Racial Tensions’ and complained that the contents of the article, which centred around him wearing an elf outfit in public, heightened racial tensions and presented ‘a risk to the safety’ of him and his family.

Cllr Christine Adams, his wife, has also represented Royton North since May this year when she won a seat in the ‘all-out’ local elections. 

Cllr Arnott, a former soldier and now Director of a specialist security company, did not not, and still has not, exercised his right of reply to the subject article or, as politely requested, provided a single shred of evidence of the alleged ‘racial tensions’ or ‘threats to safety’. Both propositions appearing to be at the same level of ludicrousness as much of the rest of his public output. 

Having been tipped off as to the broad contents of Cllr Arnott’s email, the author of the subject article (and, also, this one), Neil Wilby, sent this response to ‘Sir Harry’. 

“Good morning

“Cllr Arnott has written to you and others, including the Council Leader, regarding an article that was published by Neil Wilby Media yesterday evening and heavily updated this morning (see below weblink).

EXCLUSIVE: Never rains but it pours for Tories

“In that email, headed ‘Racial Tensions’, he makes accusations against me that are falsely grounded. More crucially, it says it makes him fear for his own and his family’s safety. Despite the fact there has not been a single report of any incident that goes remotely close to assault or other forms of violence since pro-Palestine protests and activism became prominent in Oldham. The quote from the source within the above article makes no overt or remotely implied threat of violence or sanction against Cllr Arnott, save for a ‘tit-for-tat’ report to Conservative HQ.

“He has made no such claim to me and has declined his right of reply to, instead, embark on an attempt to smear and distract from his own shortcomings. Which include having no fear for anyone’s safety during a persistent and falsely grounded campaign to label all Labour councillors and the Muslim community, in terms, as paedophile protectors. Or his political ally, Raja Miah, falsely claiming that he was going to be kidnapped and stoned to death by Muslim activists.

“The article is, essentially, a report of information provided to me by a journalistic source. One of a series of exclusives featuring the Conservative Party in Oldham within the last week.

“It expresses no personal views of mine: Those, such as they are, were put to Cllr Arnott on Twitter (or ‘X’) on Sunday evening and concern a grown man – and a serving councillor – dressing up in such a way. Quite independently a sitting Labour councillor contacted me shortly after the subject article was published and expressed similar sentiments, but in rather more vulgar language.

“Cllr Arnott has been previously criticised, on social media and in Neil Wilby Media articles, over his support of Raja Miah and the wild and violent conspiracies that emanate from that quarter. He made no comment when Miah said publicly that I would ‘leave in a body bag’ if I attended his property to interview him. Or other threats of violence that come from the criminal element of The Rabble of whom Cllr Arnott is part. No complaints were forthcoming from Cllr Arnott during that time.

“Under the Data Protection Act, 2018 please disclose Cllr Arnott’s email, and any replies, by way of data subject access. Together with details as to how the data has been processed and/or distributed, thus far.

“The invitation to Cllr Arnott to exercise his right of reply remains open.

“If he can satisfy me that fear of his safety and that of his family has any evidential substance then, of course, full and appropriate consideration, in consultation with the local police Commander, would be given to either modifying the article or making it password protected”.

Cllr Lewis Quigg (pictured above right), the third councillor representing the Royton North ward and another Raja Miah cultist, recently claimed that he was followed home ‘by Asian men’. When asked to provide further details, such as the colour, make or registration number of the vehicle, no response was forthcoming. 

Cllr Adams, another to benefit from a Raja Miah smear campaign against her election opponents, appears not to have made any representations regarding her own safety or concerns over racial tensions.

Royton, historically, has been a hotbed for far-right activists, dating back to when the BNP had a foothold in the town in the early 2000s. On all the evidence since both Cllrs Arnott and Quigg were elected, the latter as a result of a sustained smear campaign orchestrated by Raja Miah against his Labour opponents, their activities as ward representatives on Oldham Council appears geared to that class of audience. Giving the appearance, viewed through the lens of this journalist, that their political allegiances are more aligned with Britain First than the Conservative Party.

Cllr Arnott was again been offered right of reply. He did not acknowledge the email extending that latest invitation. In that light, one might very fairly question what type of ex-soldier ducks out of sight of a journalist’s ‘salvo’.

Harry Catherall has been pressed again to produce a copy of the Arnott email, requested by Neil Wilby by way of his data subject access rights. 

Follow Neil Wilby on Twitter (here) and Neil Wilby Media on Facebook (here) for signposts to any updates.

Page last updated: Tuesday 4th December, 2023 at 0705 hours

Thank you for reading and a polite request: If you feel this article is of value and in the public interest, and wish to make a contribution to the running costs of this website, it would be very much appreciated. Donations can made securely (and anonymously if required), via Buy Me A Coffee at this link or via PayPal at this link.

Corrections: Please let me know if there is a mistake in this article. I will endeavour to correct it as soon as possible.

Picture credit: Facebook

Right of reply: If you are mentioned in this article and disagree with it, please let me have your comments. Provided your response is not defamatory it will be added to the article.

© Neil Wilby 2015-2023. Unauthorised use, or reproduction, of the material contained in this article, without permission from the author, is strictly prohibited. Extracts from, and links to, the article (or blog) may be used, provided that credit is given to Neil Wilby Media, with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.