'Put disabled down' councillor re-elected in Cornwall

[cronus]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-22403852

Local election 2013: 'Put disabled down' councillor re-elected in Cornwall

A Cornwall county councillor who quit after saying disabled children should be "put down" has been re-elected to the unitary authority.

Collin Brewer, 68, won the Wadebridge East ward as an independent candidate with 335 votes, a majority of four after resigning in February.

He said he stood again because he was asked to by people in the ward.

Disability Cornwall said it was "shocked beyond words" and that it was a "sad day for Cornwall".

The announcement of Mr Brewer's election was greeted by a mixture of boos and cheers.

He said he had decided to stand again because he was asked to by people in the ward and "all over the county".

"I have apologised, the people in Wadebridge wanted me to stand and I'm proud to stand for them.

"People said with their votes they knew I didn't mean that. I resigned because of unbearable media pressure.

"The people of Wadebridge put me back. They know me."

Mr Brewer said the comments, made to a Disability Cornwall member at a stall at County Hall in Truro in 2011, were only to "provoke debate".

He said disabled children should be put down because they cost the authority too much money.

The comments came to light following a report by the council's standards committee after the charity made a formal complaint.

Mr Brewer faced strong criticism and he apologised to the charity, resigned as a councillor and said it was unlikely he would be a candidate in the May elections.

When submitting his candidacy, Mr Brewer said he was re-standing because he had a "good record" of service as a district, county and Cornwall councillor stretching back more than a quarter of a century.

'Staggered and confused'
Disability Cornwall chairman Steve Paget said he was "staggered" and "appalled" at the election result.

He said: "I'm just confused that anyone who advocated putting disabled children down in any context could be re-elected as a public figure in Cornwall."

In a statement, the organisation said many members were "deeply saddened to hear this, and worry what this could mean for us all, with such discriminatory views held by the 'leaders' of our county".

(continued, slightly to the right of UKIP in Cornwall?)

[MrJonno]

The relevant point is he was elected on 335 votes which is basically friends and family , its one of the reasons so called 'local' democracy is a joke. The more local it is the less people take it seriously and the more corrupt it becomes

[cronus]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/po ... 16097.html

'Disabled children should be put down': Cornwall councillor Collin Brewer to be investigated by police over controversial comments

A councillor who compared disabled children with deformed lambs that are dealt with at birth by “smashing them against a wall” is being investigated by police over his comments, it emerged.

Colin Brewer also claimed in an interview there were good arguments for killing some disabled babies with high support needs because of the cost of providing them with services. Speaking to Disability News Service (DNS), he said: “If (farmers) have a misshapen lamb, they get rid of it. They get rid of it. Bang! If you go to a farmer’s funeral there is not a lot of weeping because they are used to life and death. It is something they deal with on a daily basis.”

The 68-year-old’s views were universally condemned. Mark Gatiss, the League of Gentleman and Sherlock star, tweeted a link to reports, adding: “A Nazi. Disgusting.”

It is not the first time Brewer’s comments on disability have been condemned. The independent councillor resigned earlier this year following publication of a standards committee report into a complaint into comments made to a charity worker in 2011 that disabled children could be “put down” to save taxpayers’ money. Mr Brewer somehow won back his seat in local elections on 2 May with 335 votes – a winning margin of four votes.

John Pring, who runs DNS, had tried on numerous occasions to interview Mr Brewer before the councillor finally agreed to talk. Mr Brewer told Mr Pring he discussed his previous statements about putting disabled children down with a farmer from his Wadebridge East constituency. He claimed the farmer made it clear he “didn’t see a lot wrong with what I said, because it is something they do every day’.

He added: “We are just animals. He obviously has got a point - you can’t have lambs running around with five legs and two heads. It would be put down, smashed against the wall and be dealt with.”

When asked if he believed there was not much difference between putting down a lamb and a child with two heads, he said: ‘I think the cost has got to be evaluated. It is not something I would like to do but there is only so much in the bucket.”

Mr Pring told The Independent he was “deeply disturbed” at what he was hearing. “I wanted to speak to Colin Brewer to find out if he really did hold these views about disabled people and social care costs – and he clearly does.”

(continued, gone full on nazi here and he ain't joking....he looks the part too...)

[Audley Strange]

Yeah perhaps we should gas Councillors over the age of 65. I mean when you hit 65 you're meant to be retired right? Redundant? On farms they put down elderly animals rather that pay expensive vets bills to keep the non-profitable animals alive.

Clearly he is mentally disabled, should we grab him by the ankles and rapidly introduce his head to a wall, just to see if his hypothesis holds true?