Conservative Mayor Nick Martin was found guilty by the Council's Standards Committee of making abusive and insulting references to disabled people in a public meeting. Under pressure, he subsequently stood down as Mayor yesterday (April 15th).
Justin Tomlinson MP
Robert Buckland MP
Dear Justin and Robert,
Conservative Mayor Nick Martin was found guilty by the Council's Standards Committee of making abusive and insulting references to disabled people in a public meeting. Under pressure, he subsequently stood down as Mayor yesterday (April 15th).
People across Swindon have recoiled in horror when they read or heard these deeply offensive comments. The CEO of Scope, the national disability charity has said that these comments show a 'deep-seated ignorance towards disabled people'.
These comments are deeply disrespectful and offensive towards people with learning disabilities; something that we and the Labour Group of Councillors immediately knew and quickly condemned. The Labour group have been robust in our calls for this not to be swept under the carpet.
Comparatively however your colleagues within the Conservative Group of Councillors voted in December to keep Nick Martin in place as Mayor. This vote showed just how out of touch they are with people's concerns and their consistent standing up for the wrong people.
It is conspicuous that as Swindon's two MP's you have both remained silent about this episode. We believe that the people of Swindon deserve to know where you stand. We therefore have three straightforward questions for you:
We hope that you understand the deep feeling of concern of people across Swindon about these terrible comments, and have the courage to stand up for residents with learning disabilities.
In light of the public interest in this story we are releasing this letter to the media.
Yours sincerely,
Mark Dempsey Parliamentary Candidate for North Swindon
Anne Snelgrove, Parliamentary Candidate for South Swindon