A CORNWALL councillor who has been widely condemned for saying that disabled children "should be put down" has been kicked out of his political group at County Hall.
Collin Brewer has apologised but refused to resign over the comments which he made to a volunteer from the Disability Cornwall charity at an event held at County Hall in 2011.
The Independent councillor has now been removed from the Independent group with group leader John Wood saying that he had no hesitation in taking the move.
Mr Brewer was ordered to make an apology by the independent standards board following an investigation into the incident.
Mr Wood said that he had been aware of the incident at the time but said that he had taken legal advice and was told that he could not take action against Mr Brewer until the formal complaints procedure had been completed.
He said: "I had no hesitation in contacting Collin at half past 11 last night and telling him that he was no longer welcome as a member of the Independent group.
"I was at County Hall at the time of the incident and was approached by the lady who Collin had said this too. She came running at me and was in tears, asking me to do something. I had to tell her to go and see the council's monitoring officer and lodge a formal complaint.
"I spoke to the monitoring officer and he advised me that I had to let the full complaints process to be followed before I could take any action myself.
"I have had support from the senior members of the Independent group."
Asked whether he felt that Mr Brewer should resign he said: "I feel he should step down - it is that serious. It was not a flippant remark, despite what he is saying now.
"I was absolutely stunned at the time and I am still amazed that he said this. He should stand down and then if he chooses to stand for election again in May it will be up to the people to decide whether he should have a place at the council." Mr Brewer went on air this afternoon to discuss the row which has erupted over his comments. Reporter Richard Whitehouse followed the discussion on the radio and posted updates in the box below. To view the coverage, click on the 'play' symbol in the middle of the box and wait for the content to load.
Since the story was broken on thisiscornwall.co.uk yesterday afternoon it has spread across the country and attracted hundreds of comments from people on the website as well as on social networks including Twitter and Facebook. A group on Facebook calling for Mr Brewer to resign had attracted hundreds of people since it was set up last night. Should Councillor Collin Brewer resign? Vote in our poll now.
Collin Brewer has apologised but refused to resign over the comments which he made to a volunteer from the Disability Cornwall charity at an event held at County Hall in 2011.
The Independent councillor has now been removed from the Independent group with group leader John Wood saying that he had no hesitation in taking the move.
Mr Brewer was ordered to make an apology by the independent standards board following an investigation into the incident.
Mr Wood said that he had been aware of the incident at the time but said that he had taken legal advice and was told that he could not take action against Mr Brewer until the formal complaints procedure had been completed.
He said: "I had no hesitation in contacting Collin at half past 11 last night and telling him that he was no longer welcome as a member of the Independent group.
"I was at County Hall at the time of the incident and was approached by the lady who Collin had said this too. She came running at me and was in tears, asking me to do something. I had to tell her to go and see the council's monitoring officer and lodge a formal complaint.
"I spoke to the monitoring officer and he advised me that I had to let the full complaints process to be followed before I could take any action myself.
"I have had support from the senior members of the Independent group."
Asked whether he felt that Mr Brewer should resign he said: "I feel he should step down - it is that serious. It was not a flippant remark, despite what he is saying now.
"I was absolutely stunned at the time and I am still amazed that he said this. He should stand down and then if he chooses to stand for election again in May it will be up to the people to decide whether he should have a place at the council." Mr Brewer went on air this afternoon to discuss the row which has erupted over his comments. Reporter Richard Whitehouse followed the discussion on the radio and posted updates in the box below. To view the coverage, click on the 'play' symbol in the middle of the box and wait for the content to load.
Since the story was broken on thisiscornwall.co.uk yesterday afternoon it has spread across the country and attracted hundreds of comments from people on the website as well as on social networks including Twitter and Facebook. A group on Facebook calling for Mr Brewer to resign had attracted hundreds of people since it was set up last night. Should Councillor Collin Brewer resign? Vote in our poll now.
