Bates ‘not fit for public office’ jibe

Councillor Diane Williamson

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UKIP councillor Warren Bates was branded “not fit for public office” as he was officially reprimanded for a second time for bullying a veteran soldier.

Council leader Jim McMahon made the comment as Councillor Bates was censured by Oldham Council.

He is believed to be the first Oldham councillor to be censured twice following standards committee hearings this year.

At the first, in March, Councillor Bates was found to have breached the councillors’ code of conduct by being “rude and disrespectful” to 85-year-old John Crompton at a meeting. In November he was found guilty of “glowering” and “glaring” at the same man, who is chairman of Failsworth Historical Society.

Councilor McMahon had previously called for Councillor Bates - who was elected in May 2014 - to be suspended from UKIP.

He said last night: “If you hold public office the public has a right to look up to you and expect you are going to lead by example with good standards of conduct and behaviour.

“Councillor Bates has failed not for the first time, not even for the second time. There will be hundreds of times when he has acted in that way when he harasses people, when he belittles people, when he bullies people, when he follows people, chases them and hunts them down. You have got away with it for years but you are a member of this council and you can’t do it now.”

Councillor McMahon also called Liberal Democrat councillor Diane Williamson “an absolute disgrace” after she opposed the censure.

She explained that while in the latest case she believed Mr Crompton had felt threatened by Councillor Bates, she did not believe Councillor Bates had acted in a threatening way.

“I believe this is a private matter between two individuals who clearly have a history. It should not have been brought to a standards hearing.”