Kent County Councillor Robert Lord suspended from Reform UK over allegations of 'lewd remarks'

KentOnline / KMTV

The council heard complaints from multiple female members of staff, that Ford had made lewd remarks to them, which Ford denies any knowledge of.  Finn Macdiarmid

Transcript

00:00Kent County Councillor Robert Ford has had his whip suspended by Reform UK today while

00:04an investigation into his alleged misconduct continues.

00:08This all started when the now independent Councillor was accused of making lewd remarks

00:12by multiple female members of staff in a complaint to Kent County Council.

00:16According to a Reform UK Kent spokesperson, we have today suspended the Reform UK whip

00:21from Councillor Robert Ford pending investigation into his conduct.

00:25Last week an unofficial complaint was made against Councillor Ford by several female

00:28members of staff. Despite being offered a meeting with the Whip's office to discuss

00:32the complaints, Councillor Ford refused to engage with the process which has now

00:35escalated into a disciplinary matter. According to Ford himself he heard about

00:40them through a third party and said I can categorically say that up until a few

00:44hours ago I did not know anything about this. He added I have always made a point

00:48to treat everyone with respect so I was surprised when this was announced. I would

00:52like to say that my colleagues work hard at what they're doing and I have the

00:55utmost respect for their hard work. But this isn't the first instance of a

00:59Reform suspension with Councillor Daniel Taylor's allegations he had threatened to

01:02kill his wife and his arrest in June leading to his whip being withdrawn.

01:06We are surprised that yet another Reform councillor has been suspended for some kind of inappropriate

01:17behaviour relating to women, this time officers at the Council, which is really disappointing. I'm not sure that I remember any kind of

01:28transgression like this in the previous term of the Council involving officers.

01:34Councillor Ford will continue to serve as an independent councillor during the investigation. Finn McDermid for KMTV.

01:41.

01:48.

01:50.

01:52.

01:54.

01:56.

01:58.

02:00.

02:02.

02:04.

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended