Row erupts as UK Conservatives allow man jailed for antisemitic abuse to contest local election

A political row has erupted in the UK after Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch defended the party's decision to field former neo-Nazi Joshua Bonehill-Paine as a local election candidate, despite his past convictions for antisemitic abuse targeting former Labour MP Luciana Berger.Former MP says public office should have a higher barLuciana Berger, who was subjected to a campaign of antisemitic harassment by Bonehill-Paine in 2016, said rehabilitation should not automatically qualify someone for elected office. She said the abuse had a lasting impact on her life and argued there should be a higher threshold for those seeking public office.Berger said there was "a big difference" between reintegrating into society and standing for elected office, adding that Bonehill-Paine still fell "very, very short" of that standard.Badenoch defends candidate, cites rehabilitationBadenoch acknowledged Bonehill-Paine's past crimes were "appalling" but said he had served his prison sentence, shown genuine remorse and now worked to combat antisemitism through counter-extremism programmes.She argued that rejecting reformed extremists from public life would undermine the principle of rehabilitation. Howe...