UKIP councillor reported for 'racist comment'
A UKIP councillor has been reported to the council's standards department for allegedly making racist comments.
Councillor Stuart Henley has been reported to standards by the Halesowen Yemeni Community Association.
This follows comments he made online about the council opting to use the Yemeni Association to provide services at Halesowen Youth Centre.
He wrote: "Dudley Council cannot get any worse. They are renting a youth centre to a Yemeni group.
"It was reported to myself by a group in Halesowen and a previous police sergeant that Yemeni teen males caused issues with females in Halesowen and now they wish these young females to use this centre."
Dudley Council's monitoring officer Philip Tart confirmed the council had received 'an expression of concern' about the comments he made.
Mr Tart, who is also the strategic director for resources and transformation, said: "We have received an expression of concern about comments made by Councillor Henley in relation to the Halesowen Youth Centre and the agreement with Dudley Yemeni Association.
"We will be speaking to the members concerned in due course."
In a statement Councillor Henley said his actions were fair and necessary in his role as an elected spokesman.
He wrote: "I was elected to serve the people of Halesowen North. That's all the people of all religions and ethnicity.
"I had the concern raised by both residents and a police officer.
"As an elected spokesman it is my duty to express such concerns.
"I didn't stigmatise or accuse anyone – I simply expressed the concerns that people have brought to me.
"I'm happy to sit down with the Yemeni community leader and talk over how we can work together to ensure such concerns are addressed and if necessary dismissed.
"I also work very closely with the Ahmadiyya Association in Halesowen so any suggestion of racism is disingenuous and unhelpful."
UKIP group leader Councillor Paul Brothwood moved to defend his colleague.
He said: "Councillors must be allowed to air their concerns in the public domain."
Saiff Salih from the Yemeni Association, said the comments Councillor Henley originally made were 'nothing but scaremongering' with 'obvious racial views'.
