The ongoing saga over comments made by a Cornwall councillor that disabled children "should be put down", is not the conversation we should be having, a Hayle charity has said.
Disability Cornwall, the charity to which Wadebridge councillor, Collin Brewer, made his original comments in 2011,called recent revelations about further comments "frightening" but said that the debate should take in wider issues.
It emerged at the weekend that the 69-year-old, who hung on to his Wadebridge East seat by just four votes at the Cornwall council elections, had once again waded into the disabled costs row.
In a recent interview with the Disability News Service (DNS) he compared the cost of keeping ten public toilets open with the amount required to look after one disabled person.
Mr Brewer said he had been approached by a farmer in his ward about his original comments, who made it clear he "didn't see a lot wrong with what I said, because it is something they do every day".
He said: "If they have a misshapen lamb, they get rid of it. They get rid of it. Bang."
This latest string of comments, apparently made during an interview with DNS, have once again sparked a public outcry.
A spokesman for Disability Cornwall said: "It is clear that when it comes to discussions about the burden on the public purse, we have all been having the wrong conversation.
"We are talking about the value of a human child's life, set against an economic reality in which the Government diverted £2 trillion of tax payer's money from public expenditure for a bank bail-out.
"This is equivalent to 20 years of NHS spending, 40 years of education spending or 500 years of Job Seekers Allowance.
"Many people do not realise that a local authority's primary function is to provide social care services and for good reason, because Mr Brewer and friends, its life that is precious in all its variety and need, not the pothole that might inconvenience your commute to work."
Disability Cornwall, the charity to which Wadebridge councillor, Collin Brewer, made his original comments in 2011,called recent revelations about further comments "frightening" but said that the debate should take in wider issues.
It emerged at the weekend that the 69-year-old, who hung on to his Wadebridge East seat by just four votes at the Cornwall council elections, had once again waded into the disabled costs row.
In a recent interview with the Disability News Service (DNS) he compared the cost of keeping ten public toilets open with the amount required to look after one disabled person.
Mr Brewer said he had been approached by a farmer in his ward about his original comments, who made it clear he "didn't see a lot wrong with what I said, because it is something they do every day".
He said: "If they have a misshapen lamb, they get rid of it. They get rid of it. Bang."
This latest string of comments, apparently made during an interview with DNS, have once again sparked a public outcry.
A spokesman for Disability Cornwall said: "It is clear that when it comes to discussions about the burden on the public purse, we have all been having the wrong conversation.
"We are talking about the value of a human child's life, set against an economic reality in which the Government diverted £2 trillion of tax payer's money from public expenditure for a bank bail-out.
"This is equivalent to 20 years of NHS spending, 40 years of education spending or 500 years of Job Seekers Allowance.
"Many people do not realise that a local authority's primary function is to provide social care services and for good reason, because Mr Brewer and friends, its life that is precious in all its variety and need, not the pothole that might inconvenience your commute to work."
