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The former chairwoman of the Wirral branch of UKIP was sacked from her Civil Service job after tweets emerged comparing immigrants to terrorists and paedophiles.

Paula Walters also told an Employment Tribunal she believed a report had been suppressed arguing that an "influx of African men marrying British women" led to the spread of AIDS in the UK.

Ms Walters was working for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in its child benefit department when she stood for UKIP in New Brighton for the 2018 council elections - only for the tweets to emerge in an ECHO article.

She was dismissed in November that year after her employers concluded her tweets, and a statement sent to an ECHO reporter, breached the Civil Service's Codes and Standards of Behaviour.

Ms Walters took her former bosses to the Employment Tribunal - where she argued she had been harassed and discriminated against because of her beliefs in "English nationalism" and "anti political correctness."

(Image: Nick Ansell/PA Wire)

But the claim was thrown out after a judge ruled "the claimant’s belief that she should be able to say anything about anyone is not worthy of respect in a democratic society."

Ms Walters, who was on UKIP's National Executive Committee, is now no longer a member of the party and said she is not involved in politics any more.

She told the ECHO she denies holding racist views and said she had been a victim of "left-wing bias" in both the Civil Service and the media.

Describing the Civil Service as "full of lefties," she told the ECHO: "I instigated the case against the DWP to right a wrong with little chance of success because had I won this tribunal it would open the floodgates for those in the employ of the state to have a voice.

"So many people, council workers, civil servants, NHS employees, Policemen are unable to voice an opinion. Criticism is not allowed; workers are effectively gagged and live in fear of losing their jobs."

In the tribunal, she argued she was being harassed and discriminated against because of her "philosophical beliefs" in "English nationalism" and "anti political correctness."

However her claim was thrown out, with Judge Jane Aspinall concluding Ms Walters had been unable to describe a "coherent and cogent" belief system.

The Judgment said: "The claimant accepted that she wasn’t really sure beyond her examples above of what was meant by political correctness or anti-political correctness or how to explain it.

"The claimant said she was getting confused and wasn’t clear but that she stood for equality. The claimant said that in essence her belief is that people are not allowed to say what they think anymore, anti-political correctness is about being able to say what you think.

"When pressed on what kinds of things people should be allowed to say and how political correctness is defined the claimant said she had totally lost the thread."

Ms Walters told the ECHO she was not anti-immigrant and supported allowing genuine asylum seekers into the country.

However Judge Aspinall concluded: "The Tribunal found that the claimant’s belief in nationalism included a belief that equates migrants with terrorists.

"In one of her tweets the claimant said 'can you tell the difference between a migrant and a terrorist? Obviously Dave [Cameron] can because this week he’s putting the welcome mat out'.

"The claimant’s belief in nationalism extended to equating Muslim males with paedophiles. She tweeted 'so Muslims get benefits for each wife, if the wives are children do they also get child benefits?'

"The Tribunal found that the claimant’s equating migrants with terrorists and equating Muslim males with paedophiles were part of her beliefs in English nationalism."

Judge Aspinall found the DWP had acted reasonably when it dismissed Ms Walters, noting that the Civil Service's Code and Standards of Behaviour urged staff to avoid "any kind of personal attack or tasteless or offensive remarks to individuals or groups."

The Tribunal also noted Ms Walters had told one of her managers she wanted to send a statement to the ECHO when contacted about the tweets - but sent it for publication before her manager responded.

The letter to the ECHO included statements such as: "Half a million immigrants are on their way. How many are ISIS I can’t tell can you?”

In response to a request for comment yesterday, Ms Walters said: "I have never compared migrants to terrorists.

"Genuine refugees deserve our help and support; however, it is well documented that ISIS has boasted that they will infiltrate our country posing as refugees.

"We cannot determine the genuine refugees from those who wish to kill us without scrupulous vetting. This is not hate filled or racist, it’s common sense to prevent loss of life."

Ms Walters says she is now involved in "animal welfare" and campaigns against Halal practices and other forms of "non-stun slaughter.