Defiant race row councillor refuses to resign
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by Sam Lennon
Three leading councillors have called for the resignation of a
colleague accused of making racist remarks on Facebook.
And the explosive comments by Cllr
Jack Woodford will now be investigated internally by Ashford
Borough Council.
Ashford Mayor John Holland, deputy
leader Paul Bartlett and Cabinet member Neil Bell have all demanded
Cllr Woodford steps down after he told an Asian man to "get back to
washing dishes in a curry house".
Cllr Woodford has refused
to resign but is prepared to apologise. On Friday afternoon he
said: "I am not resigning. I was elected by the people of Wye and
my responsibility is to them.
"It was a foolish mistake and I
regret it. I should have bitten my tongue. I would like to
apologise completely to the people of Wye for the embarrassment I
have caused, to the people of Ashford and to the council."
Audio: Cllr Neil Bell
tells kmfm why he thinks Cllr Woodford should resign
Cllr Woodford, a farmer and Ashford
Independent group member, had been for several months contributing
to Facebook's Stop the BNP debate. He posted his remarks on
June 18 as tempers had risen in the exchange and British-born Nunu
Amin had called him a racist and used swear words against him.
He lashed out to Mr Amin: "Just get
back to washing dishes in whatever curry house you work in. Have
you thought of emigrating back to India or Pakistan?"
Cllr Woodford has stressed he is
not racist, does not support the BNP and had voted for UKIP when
the far right party won seats in the Euro Elections in June.
Ashford Borough Council said its
Code of Conduct for members only applies when they are acting in an
official capacity and Cllr Woodford's comments were not made in
those circumstances.
But it is still referring the
matter to its standards committee "for further consideration".
- For more on this story, pick up a copy of
this week's Kentish Express newspaper.
More news from the Ashford area on the Kentish Express website >>>
Thursday, July 02 2009
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