Cornish Councillor Resigns Again !

[mikey4444]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-23388207

This chap is going to resign again !

[mushroom25]

there's no indication he won't be standing again, and clearly he's popular with the electorate, notwithstanding his ill-judged recent comments.

so maybe he'll be afforded the opportunity to resign for a 3rd time. that's democracy in action.

[youngmafbog]

I take it that his views are not yours therefore you seem to think he should be deprived of them. He gets voted in so presumably there are a number of people who don't agree with you. In a democracy you have to accept this, unpalitable as it may be.

And for the record I am not keen on this man, although I suspect he is being taken out of context by the media to sensationalise and create a story.

[DTCwordfan]

Old News there mikey.

He's a bigot. The amazing thing is that they couldn't kick him out, only make life uncomfortable.

[mushroom25]

//Old News there mikey.//

yes, but the date of the resultant by-election was only confirmed today - so the story was worthy of a refresh.

[mikey4444]

Not entirely sure from the media if he intends to stand again.

I agree with you DTC but we have to careful here on AB with the b word, even for people like this !

[andy-hughes]

youngmafblog - "I take it that his views are not yours therefore you seem to think he should be deprived of them."

I would suggest that although his views are not mine - or indeed those of anyone who does not equate new born children with livestock on a farm - I would not think he should be deprived of them.

I would suggest that he should be deprived of the public platform for his views accorded to him by his status and position as a councillor - and that appears to be taking place.

Anyone is entitled to be an inhumane cold unfeeling excuse for a human being - but the opportunity to be so as a public representative, and to take that opportunity to advance such reprehensible garbage is not acceptable.

That is democracy at work.

[mikey4444]

Way to go Andy !

[DTCwordfan]

This is not the first time, mikey, so I have no hesitation in using it. He made similar remarks about handicapped children at the back end of the last council and didn't seem to take the lesson aboard.

[New Judge]

Very true Andy. But there may be sufficient numbers of the electorate who share his views, who have elected him and who want him to put those views forward in his position as a councillor.

THAT is democracy at work!

The idea that there is an arbitrary list of "acceptable views" (drawn up by whom?) is about as undemocratic as it comes.

[Orderlimit]

Way to go New Judge !

[DTCwordfan]

I don't know what the size of the ward is but Wadebridge is what, some 6 to 7000 people. He got elected on a very low turnout, some 335 votes to win by 4 I believe......You get what you vote for, and there was a fair amount of horror in the town when the good citizens realised what their lack of civic duty had resulted in.

The first time around he had suggested that handicapped children should be put down because they cost too much.....

[andy-hughes]

I disagree with the finer point of your response NewJudge.

The electorate who elected this individual may have agreed with his point of view that disabled babies are a financial drain on the Welfare State - but they may take issue with his notion that they should be 'put down' as are disabled livestock.

Or, it is possible that these views were not put forward at the time the election campaign was taking place.

I find it difficult to believe that any form of majority could be gleaned by someone espousing these views - which is not to say that I do not accept its possibility.

That - as you say - is democracy at work.

I would entirely agree that an arbitrary list of 'acceptable views' is something no-one would ever want to see.

But to my mind the notion that children are selected for life or death on the basis of their cost to the tax-payer, or their deserved deaths on the basis that livestock farmers adopt that stance - is not a matter of an 'acceptable view'.

It is simply part and parcel of being a normal compassionate human being with an acceptance of a fundamental right of a new born baby to be given the best life possible.

That is not a view - that is humanity.

[emmie]

didn't it work the first time around...

[mikey4444]

Brewer has some odd ideas, that's for sure. But aren't the people who voted for him odd as well ? The ones who also think its a good idea to put handicapped children down at birth, just like unwanted kittens ?

[emmie]

unlikely they think that of course, he does seem a strange cove

[andy-hughes]

Again, I find it hard to believe that anyone can get elected to anything but the Joseph Mengele Appreciation Society on a platform of 'putting down' babies at birth - so again my contention is that this has been spun somewhat to infer that outcome.

[New Judge]

Of course Andy we don’t know all the ins and outs of this matter. In particular we don’t know whether the Good Councillor stood for election with these views known to the electorate. (I very much doubt that he did). But I’m always wary of people with radical views being effectively barred from expressing those views just because they don’t suit some people. As you say, this particular issue is one of humanity - in your view and indeed mine. But not everybody might agree.

[andy-hughes]

New Judge

I am as vigorous a defender of free speech as anyone, but in the time-honoured tradition - free speech does not allow you to shout 'Fire!' in a crowded theatre.

Let us not be so keen to protect our enshrined rights to express an opinion and allow it to be tramped on by individuals like this, who make a mockery of the entire concept.

I believe the metaphor - chasing your quarry over a cliff may fit?

[brionon]

What ever happened to freedom of speech ? This man should be Put Down. !!