Villagers told: 'Councillor cannot be forced to resign'

By chubbard

A PARISH councillor convicted of racial harassment cannot be forced to resign, villagers have been told.

Angry residents called for Nicolette Tossell to quit at a heated meeting of Combe Martin parish council.

The demands came after Cllr Tossell and her husband Raymond were found guilty at Barnstaple Magistrates' Court of racially abusing Anthea Slade, a mixed-race woman who lives in the village.

Several villagers turned up at Monday's meeting of the council to demand Cllr Tossell's resignation, but she failed to appear.

At the start of the meeting the council chairman Julia Clark, equipped with a microphone and speaker, read out a statement: "Despite recent events, which were a private matter and did not involve the parish council as a body, everybody, no matter what their ethnicity, place of birth or disability, will be treated with the same respect and understanding by this parish council."

Several angry villagers then stood up to ask versions of the same question — if Cllr Tossell would not resign, why wouldn't the parish council make her?

Each time the questions were met with the same amplified response: "We cannot, for legal reasons, go any further on this matter. I hear what you are saying, but we cannot discuss this further."

Claire Mountain stood up to ask why the council would not answer certain questions.

Cllr Clark replied: "Sometimes we can answer the questions, sometimes we can't."

People then called on the council to report Cllr Tossell to the Standards Committee which investigates the behaviour of people in public office.

Cllr Clark said: "We have been in touch with the monitoring officer, and that is as far as I will go on this subject. We have consulted the monitoring officer all along.

"This council has not complained to the monitoring officer. Individual councillors may have complained. You as the public may complain. But she does not have to resign. That is up to the individual councillor, we cannot legally force this councillor to resign."

One man said: "This woman was racially berating a member of the public over a car parking issue."

But his comments were drowned out by Cllr Clark who said: "Ken, I am going to stop you. I am not going to retry this case now and I'm going to get cross if you make me. We cannot as a council force anybody to resign, we have to treat everybody the same."

A member of the public quipped: "Unless they're black."

Cllr Clark said: "We have done everything that is legally correct."

A resident shouted: "But you haven't done the right thing — she should resign."

Cllr Clark repeated: "We cannot force her to resign. There is no whistle-blowing protocol in place anymore, so we no longer have to blow the whistle."

Cllr Eric Hughes, taking the microphone, said: "I would just like the public to know that it isn't all councillors who approve of this."

Cllr Clark added: "None of the council approves of this — but we are not going to re-try this case here."