Islington News: Catherine West | Terry Stacy | Secrecy | War of Words

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Islington Tribune - Exclusive by ROISIN GADELRAB
Published: 8 August 2008

Cllr Catherine West

Political war of words over sex and ‘innuendo’

RIVAL councillors are involved in a war of words amid claims the leader of the Labour group at the Town Hall made fun of a Lib Dem chief for being gay.
The row has been wrapped up in secrecy and nobody will spell out exactly what Councillor Catherine West is actually alleged to have said to or about Councillor Terry Stacy, who is gay, at a cabinet meeting early last month. It has, however, been considered offensive enough to lead to a complaint being referred to the council’s own standards committee by the Lib Dems.
An investigation has been launched which could involve dozens of interviews just to see whether Cllr West has done anything wrong. Even though the internal inquiry will take up officer time and Town Hall resources, neither side will comment on the investigation and the council’s legal team has warned councillors not to comment.
Cllr West’s allies said the case was a “malicious attack on her reputation” and that she had a strong record of standing up for people’s rights.
Some witnesses, however, said privately they were “gobsmacked” by her comments which came during an environment discussion on July 3.
The complaint was fired off by Lib Dem education chief Councillor Ursula Woolley, although she was also unavailable to discuss the issue and explain why she was so upset. It is understood the complaint centres on a claim that a members’ code of conduct was broken by “failing to promote equality” and risked bring her office into disrepute.
One of Cllr West’s supporters said: “These allegations sound like a load of rubbish and innuendo to me. It sounds like someone with an axe to grind from the Liberal Democrats has made a malicious attack on her reputation. I just find it depressing that things have sunk so low in Islington that such a serious issue is being misused in this way.”
It is understood the standards committee decided on Thursday to seek “witnesses” following an “initial assessment”. If the committee finds a breach, Cllr West could be asked to undergo “equalities training”.
Sources close to Cllr Stacy have accused Cllr West of paying little regard to how her comments would have affected the deputy leader’s role and his civic responsibilities.
A Town Hall spokesman said: “Islington Council does not comment on any individual cases that may be under consideration by the council’s standards committee.”

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