'Victory for free speech' as council to take no action over comments on asylum seekers

PROBE WAS 'POLITICALLY MOTIVATED' - COUNCILLOR

- By OLIVER PRIDMORE

Reform UK Councillor Fraser McFarland said he felt the inquiry into his comments was "politically motivated"

A REFORM UK councillor will not be punished over comments about asylum seekers in what he calls a "victory for free speech".

Being banned from council buildings and having his council laptop confiscated were among the measures that could have been imposed on Bassetlaw District Council's Councillor Fraser McFarland.

The Labour-run authority commissioned an external legal firm to produce a report nearly 100 pages long which found that Councillor McFarland had breached the council's code of conduct.

But a panel of councillors disagreed, and Mr McFarland, who was a Conservative councillor when the original complaint was submitted, will not face sanctions.

The committee, made up of one Conservative and two Labour councillors, met on Thursday to consider the investigation into Mr McFarland, which the council previously said gave an "impartial view".

But Mr McFarland again dubbed the process "politically motivated" after Thursday's hearing, with the council again insisting that everything had been dealt with in line with procedure.