A NEWTON Abbot Reform UK councillor has sparked outrage over a comment he made on social media supporting techniques used in the US to tackle illegal immigrants.

Mick Cockerham, county councillor for Newton Abbot South, has been blasted for his post which critics say openly calls for violence.

There have been calls for him to resign over the post made on the Facebook page of Reform UK Newton Abbot Branch.

Under a picture of Sadiq Khan, London mayor, apparently stating Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform UK nationally, would bring an ICE-style crackdown to Britain, Cllr Cockerham added: ‘Here’s hoping we might see the same ICE correction techniques for woke interfering lefties.’

The post has since been deleted and Cllr Cockerham said his comments were about Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) techniques surrounding deporting illegal immigrants and stressed he would ‘want nobody physically hurt in any removals’.

His comments follow incidents in the US involving ICE, most recently after two US citizens in Minnesota were shot dead by ICE agents amid ongoing efforts to deport illegal immigrants.

But furious councillors say his comments are in bad taste, unacceptable and ‘dangerous’.

It is understood members of the public have also contacted Devon County Council officers to complain.

Lib Dem councillor for Chulmleigh and Landkey, Ed Tyldesley has written to Devon’s Reform leader Cllr Michael Fyfe-Cook asking that Cllr Cockerham (Newton Abbot South) resign over the matter.

There have been further claims Cllr Cockerham’s comments bring Devon County Council into disrepute.

Cllr Tyldesley said: ‘To express “hope” that such techniques might be applied to “woke interfering lefties” is not political debate or robust rhetoric.

‘It is language that implicitly endorses, trivialises, or encourages violence against people defined by their political views.’

Speaking to the Mid Devon Advertiser, Cllr Fyfe-Cook said he would speak to Cllr Cockerham about his use of language and ask him to be more ‘cautious’.

But Cllr Fyfe-Cook commented that there had been a lot of ‘hate’ towards Reform councillors in the council chamber.

Cllr Cockerham said, before leaving the country for several weeks: ‘I will stress, I want nobody physically hurt in any removals.

‘But I will accept there will be upset and resistance from the left, as clearly shown already.

‘Reform will seem, to a few, to be the bad guys and if you support deportations, you’ll always upset some.

‘I imagine, when we adopt a similar system, our techniques should be as good as the American system. Detect, detain and deport.’

Cllr Tyldesley argued the comments normalised the idea that 'violence is an appropriate response to political disagreement’.

He said: ‘It brings the office of councillor, and your group as a whole, into disrepute.

‘A reasonable member of the public would be entitled to conclude that such remarks undermine public trust in local government and raise serious questions about whether all residents can expect to be treated with dignity, fairness, and safety by those elected to represent them.

‘Cllr Cockerham’s comments demonstrate a profound lack of judgment that is incompatible with the role of a county councillor.’