Friday 23 October 2009

Coleman does it yet again!


Don’t Call Me Dave thanks Mr Toad for drawing our attention to a video published on YouTube featuring Brian Coleman’s latest petulant outburst during a meeting of the Business Management and Administration Committee. Coleman can clearly be heard calling someone, believed to be Labour GLA Member John Biggs, an “odious toad”.




The Chairman of the Committee, Jennette Arnold, adjourned the meeting for ten minutes and although the cameras were switched off, the microphones were not! Mr Biggs can be heard politely criticising Brian Coleman for his outburst, who then replied:
“I’m not taking any lectures from you. You are the rudest politician in London.”
Don’t Call Me Dave has never met Mr Biggs but he can say without a shadow of doubt that, at the very worst, he can only be the second rudest politician in London. Nobody comes even close to Coleman who must now surely be facing another misconduct charge?

The GLA Members Code of Conduct states:
“You should promote equality by not discriminating unlawfully against any person, and by treating people with respect, regardless of their race, age, religion, gender, sexual orientation or disability. You should respect the impartiality and integrity of the authority's statutory officers, and its other employees.”
It is highly arguable that Coleman’s comments breach three specific sections of the code:
3(1): You must treat others with respect.

3(2)(b): You must not bully any person.

5: You must not conduct yourself in a manner which could reasonably be regarded as bringing your office or authority into disrepute.

Given that it is little more than a month since Brian Coleman was found guilty of breaching Barnet’s Code of Conduct, you would have thought that he would have learnt to keep his big mouth shut.

Can anyone provide an explanation for Coleman’s ever more erratic behaviour?

No comments: