𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

A man who became “pen friends” with a top terrorist responsible for 9/11 has been given a senior role by Reform UK, the Express can reveal. Rory Green, who was elected as a Reform UK county councillor in May, made national headlines in 2014 when he began corresponding with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the “architect” of the terror attacks that killed 3,000 people.

Mr Green has now been appointed as the council cabinet member responsible for children and families on Nottinghamshire County Council. At the time, Mr Green said he wrote to Mr Mohammed because he “had this compassion for him” as a result of his Christian faith. He told the media: “He is obviously an educated individual, an intellectual. It must be so lonely in that prison. I just had this compassion for him.”

“I thought this man needs Jesus as much as the average Joe – who else is going to reach out to this man with love and prayers?”

The Reform councillor received a 27-page handwritten reply from the top Al Qaeda organiser, who has been in captivity at Guantanamo Bay since 2006.

In the reply, branded “very pleasant, very polite” by Mr Green, the terror group’s head of propaganda praised him as “a smart student who has read the history of Europe”.

In interviews at the time, Mr Green said he planned to write back, claiming he wanted “to build a relationship, be his friend, talk to him more about his faith”.

However, he clarified: “I think terrorism is disgusting and senseless. If he is guilty, I pray for justice to be done, whatever that looks like to the courts.”

Approached for comment, the Nottinghamshire councillor told this paper he had not subsequently corresponded with Mohammed, who remains in US captivity in Cuba.

He insisted: “I do not regret my comments over a decade ago, as my faith shapes the man I am to serve with both love and justice. My comments took full regard for the monstrous acts involving the murder of 2,977 innocent people, in which my own mother grew up in Yonkers, New York City. I remember coming home from school that Tuesday afternoon to witness her crying at the news. It is very personal to me.

“I believe that love for family, community, and country involves the virtues of care, love and acknowledging people’s mistakes. That is Reform UK’s view. Nigel Farage boldly exemplified this when discussing marriage and divorce. A leader who sets the example of vulnerability and strength. A leader I want to follow. Many Reform UK members have a similar theology of Christianity that God forgives all sin, but they are not exempt from earthly justice, as a consequence for their actions.”

However, Robert Jenrick, the Conservative Shadow Justice Secretary and a Nottinghamshire MP, said locals will “rightly be horrified” at the promotion of Mr Green, given his history.

The top Tory said: “People across the county will rightly be horrified that Reform’s new cabinet member for children and families was a pen friend of one of the terrorists behind 9/11.

“This is one of the most devastating terrorist attacks in history. Exchanging cuddly letters with one of its key architects is a sign of badly misplaced priorities.

“What signal does this send to people across Nottinghamshire?”

The revelation came as Mr Farage championed the defection to Reform of the most prominent Tory yet, former party chairman Sir Jake Berry.

The close ally of Boris Johnson announced his move on Wednesday night, branding Reform UK the “last chance to pull Britain back from terminal decline”.

Sir Jake served in a number of prominent roles over the past few years, including as chairman of the Tory party during Liz Truss’s short-lived government.

He also headed up the Red Wall Tory faction, fighting for the North of England and ensuring its prominence during Boris Johnson’s government.

Sir Jake said: “Britain is broken … I know who broke it because I was there.”

His departure was condemned by his former Tory association in Lancashire, who said the move “says far more about him than it does about the modern Conservative Party”.

A spokesman said: “The truth is that Jake never truly recovered from the downfall of Liz Truss – a prime minister whose brief and chaotic tenure he enthusiastically supported.”

Asked if his defection was opportunistic, Sir Jake told GB News: “It’s not a very easy thing to do to leave a political party that you’ve been supporting for over 30 years. It’s been a huge decision and not one I’ve taken lightly.”

Responding to the defection, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch dismissed the move as the politics of a “banana republic” when MPs “follow polls and defect wherever they can … to wherever they think that they can win”.S

She added: “All of the people who are not interested in coming up with a proper policy plan and just want to jump ship are welcome to do so.”