Brentwood Tory councillor Keith Parker has shown the caring, sharing side of his party in the last week. PinkNews reports:
A Tory councillor in Brentwood who made a joke about promoting gay rights and help for domestic violence victims has been accused of being offensive.
Keith Parker, the councillor for Brizes and Doddinghurst ward, remarked at a committee meeting last week that the “scream team will be conversing with the queen team”.
Following the meeting, he was criticised by Labour and Lib Dem councillors for the remarks.
Lib Dem Cllr Karen Chilvers told the Brentwood Gazette she had made a formal complaint to the council. Chilvers added that Parker’s comments were “offensive to anyone who has suffered domestic violence or is homosexual”.
Cllr Parker’s justification?
if anyone takes offence to that they haven’t seen programmes such as Mock the Week.”
An interesting defence, which suggests Cllr Parker has difficulty understanding the difference between a risque comedy panel show and a council committee meeting. He doesn’t seem very well qualified for either.
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13 Comments
I dunno, councillors could use lightening up a little.
Parker is an idiot. But eevryone should be able to express their view even if we disagree with them
The complaint from Cllr Chilvers is deeply illiberal. Just becuase someone is offended by something is no reason for a formal complaint.
“The complaint from Cllr Chilvers is deeply illiberal?”
One of the reasons I stood for election in the first place was to stand up for people who needed someone to make their voices heard. I consider domestic violence victims amongst these people and I won’t stand idly by and let them be ridiculed, especially in a council chamber.
Also, a reminder of what is on my Liberal Democrat membership card:
““The Liberal Democrats exist to build and safeguard a fair, free and open society, in which we seek to balance the fundamental values of liberty, equality and community and in which no-one should be enslaved by poverty, ignorance or conformity.”
But it also says in the party constitution:
‘ We will at all times defend the right to speak, write, worship, associate and vote freely’.
That includes the right to say stupid things which will offend other people.Your not liking something is no reason to make an official complaint about him. The only people who should judge him on his comments are his electorate.
There’s also a council code of conduct that we sign up to as elected members. I am proud to stand up for my residents and by registering my complaint I’ve made the electorate aware and they can make their decision.
I think we agree then, we are both happy for this to be left to the electorate.
Does that mean that you will not be wanting the council to take any disciplinary action?
I agree with you on your first point, but the second is now up to the council to decide whether he has broken the code of conduct. I can’t comment further on that on legal advice. All elected members have to abide by this code.
But let me be abundantly clear, I stand by my complaint which highlights the issue to Brentwood residents and do not think it is “deeply illiberal” to stand up for people as this is what I was elected to do. If you, or anyone else for that matter, thinks that of me then fine, but be assured that I can still sleep at night knowing it was the right thing for me to do because that is what I promised the people who voted for me.
I notice, by the way, this isn’t the first time you’ve used that very phrase!
Expose him as fool, don’t set him up as a martyr.
Karen
so your position is that you do not think this should be left to the voters. you think that people who say things you don’t like should be punished. That is not a Liberal position. The code of conduct is used to shut up unpopular/controverisal opinions – that is not something liberals should have truck with. By all means plaster this man’s ward with Focus leaflets with these quotes on – then the voters can decide. Just to remind you of the Liberal position on free speech from JS Mill:
‘If all mankind minus one were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind’
I have made my point Simon, I firmly believe I have done the right thing by those I represent. I won’t be making any more comment here.
There is a difference between expressing an opinion (on a matter of policy etc.) and seeking to discriminate / belittle / trivialise on grounds of personal characteristics. We should defend the former not the latter. That applies to anyone, but public representatives should be particularly careful with the language they use. The council chamber is not The Comedy Club (well, not deliberately).
It’s quite simple. Discrimination is wrong.
I subscribe to Voltaire’s dictum, but that applies equally to Karen Chilvers, who clearly understands that gay people and domestic violence victims also have rights. It’s another example of the dark underbelly of the Conservative Party.
Yes, it may have constituted a poor choice to make that comment in a formal setting, however, many of us survivors of domestic violence find (light) humor VERY therapeutic – indeed, laughter has been the best medicine for me, and many other women that I know – both gay and straight. If he had made light of a trigger, such as rape, choking, fear of retaliation, etc, I’d buy that complaint. This was a slight gag in a pool of sometimes unspeakable horror. It could be compared to the tasteless jokes that EMT’s sometimes utter amongst themselves after having dealt with a horrific accident. Perhaps your councilor has found need of a similar coping mechanism?