A CHARITY leader has denied any support for extreme right-wing groups after posts from Britain First and the English Defence League were shared by their Facebook page.

Ron Alexander, 67, of Martock Avenue in Westcliff, is the Life President of disability charity DIAL Southend and has defended the decision to share Facebook posts from what are widely perceived to be racist organisations.

The charity, which provides guidance and support to people suffering with disabilities, has shared several posts on social media that are critical of the Government’s underfunding of disability services and lack of support for veterans.

This included an article from the British Free Press, a Britain First website, claiming Birmingham Council has banned the Royal British Legion from selling poppies, an incident that actually happened in 2011.

The charity also shared a picture from the English Defence League that told the story of an Army veteran being denied a flat because “he is not an alcoholic, drug addict or asylum seeker.”

But Mr Alexander, who is also a war veteran, does not deny sympathising with the sentiment of the posts.

He said: “It doesn’t matter where the message comes from. Whether it comes from the EDL or a mum and toddler group, it is still true.

“The incident in Birmingham definitely happened and disability services for war veterans are seriously underfunded.

“We’ve got service personnel sleeping on the street because they are not getting the support they need.”

Despite agreeing with some of their posts, Mr Alexander was keen to distance himself and the charity from any organisation that might fuel hate or discrimination and instead admitted this was a social media learning curve for DIAL.

He added: “I do not support the English Defence League or Britain First. I am categorically against hate crime of any kind. Too many people gave their lives to make sure there were no such organisations.

“We were simply trying to highlight the problems that disabled people and war veterans face every day.

“We are using our Facebook page to make people aware of what is going on. It is about access to services and funding and how we as a community need to come together and get people the help they need.

“But there is absolutely no racial hatred in this organisation and I would come down like a tonne of bricks on anyone who acted otherwise.

“It’s very much a learning curve with Facebook and we haven’t been brilliant with it, but I will make sure these kinds of posts are not included ever again.”