Statement from Scarborough Borough Council Conservative Group regarding the jailing of Labour’s Cllr. Theresa Norton:
It is disappointing that the judge’s sentence did not meet the 12-week threshold to disqualify her as a Councillor. We’re not holding our breath, but we hope she does the honourable thing and resigns. The residents of Eastfield do not deserve to be represented by a convict.
The actions of eco-mobs like Extinction Rebellion and Insulate Britain, both of which Cllr. Norton is a proud member of have disgusted the British public. Whether it’s blocking the road on a bank holiday weekend in Scarborough town centre or gluing yourself to the M25, the disruption to peoples’ everyday lives is not acceptable. The utter contempt that Cllr. Norton has shown for the hurt she and her comrades have caused people has been astounding.
What has been more astounding is the deafening silence from The Labour Party both locally and nationally. At a national level Labour has not made any public statement either in support or condemning her behaviour, despite being approached by numerous media outlets. Locally, Cllr. Siddons has demonstrated the leadership vacuum that is at the heart of Scarborough Borough
Council. Cllr. Siddons has made no public comment on the matter, he has not suspended the whip or taken any action of any kind. The level of disrepute she has brought upon the Council and
Scarborough as a whole has been more than enough to warrant a suspension of the Labour whip while the police investigations were ongoing.
Conservative Group Leader and former Council Leader Cllr. Derek Bastiman added:
“It is clear that she must resign from Scarborough Borough Council, maybe now Cllr. Siddons and the local Labour Party will show some action for once and expel her from the party. It’s one thing to be
involved in eco-hooligan groups, but it’s another thing to be bringing the Borough into disrepute. We have been a laughingstock because of her behaviour and no action was taken against her by SBC or the Labour Party. The residents of Eastfield deserve better than this”
Conservative Deputy Group Leader, Cllr. Heather Phillips added:
“What is ironic is that the Government has made ambitious, radical proposals to tackle climate change and is the greenest government we’ve ever had. But as with a lot of these groups it’s never enough. The fact is a lot of these protestors we see locally are the same people. Whether it’s Extinction Rebellion, Socialist Workers, anti-fracking, anti-Donald Trump, anti-Tory, anti-whatever they feel offended by this week, it’s the same people who do this as a hobby and no matter what happens, they’ll never be satisfied as they need something to shout about.
The irony is that with insulate Britain and Extinction rebellion, while they did get a lot of press coverage, it’s backfired. Ordinary people haven’t been calling for tougher action on climate change, they’ve been calling for tougher action on climate change protesters"
