Dudley councillor to undergo equality and diversity training over 'Islamophobic' comments
A councillor in Dudley will undergo equality and diversity training after he posted "Islamophobic" comments on his social media page.
Councillor Colin Elcock, who represents Norton on Dudley Council, was found to have broken the code of conduct over his actions by a committee.
Complaints were submitted to the authority after he posted that Islam was "domination not integration" and asked whether people in Iran were "all on the dole".
Other tweets included offensive remarks about BBC correspondents and a response to what appears to be a porn bot tweet of a woman's buttocks, but the councillor claims he was hacked.
Dudley Council's standards sub-committee ruled the councillor's comments breached the code of conduct – but couldn't come to a decision over the lewd comments.
It means a formal letter will be sent out from the chair of the Audit and Standards Committee and he must undertake appropriate equality and diversity training.
Councillor Alan Guest, who chaired the committee, said they felt Councillor Elcock was "genuinely sorry" but called on the council to review councillors' social media training.
'Daft opinions'
Councillor Elcock, who was suspended by the Conservative Party over his actions, said the comments were his "daft opinions" and he had been "persecuted for it".
He said at the meeting: "I acknowledge they [tweets over Islam and Iran] are my tweets and, at that time, in that volatile situation, it was my opinion that there was thousands and thousands of people out on the streets. It was just a daft thought which drifted through my mind – I thought 'why aren't they working'? I wrote the tweet because of it.
"Many many people I've spoken to – the police and the Conservative Party – have said 'you're entitled to exercise your free speech' and that I've committed no crime.
"I will not accept I'm racist – I've never had an Islamophobic thought. I've got on with everyone and I've been quite successful in business.
"At my age I should never have joined Twitter at all – it's a young persons' media. That and Facebook I've never really understood how they worked."
He said the tweets had led to the breakdown of his marriage – with his wife of 50 years seeking a divorce, something which he described as being "heart-wrenching".
Councillor Elcock said offensive tweets – directed at BBC correspondents – were made when the country was in "uproar" and claimed they were "inciting aggravation".
"The only thing I can do in all honesty is admit my mistakes which I do. I put those two tweets up [about Islam and Iran] and put up some awful tweets about politicians and members of the BBC," he added.
But the Norton councillor denied responding to the lewd images, claiming he had been hacked and had not seen them until they were brought to his attention.
He said: "I did the wrong thing with the Islamic tweets – they were my daft options at the time – but the lewd tweets were nothing at all to do with me."
