100 signatures reached
To: Brighton and Hove City Council Chief Executive Geoff Raw
Brighton and Hove City Councillor couple Druitt and Phillips Must Resign!
We, the undersigned, demand the immediate resignation of married Brighton and Hove Green Councillors Tom Druitt and Alex Phillips on the following grounds:
A. Deserting their (Regency) Ward in March 2020 to go and live in France during the forewarned imminent lockdown. Covid was a national crisis and a time when the public would expect to look to their political representatives for leadership and moral guidance, yet these two went AWOL to their country estate in France. They then compounded this action by lying that they were ‘trapped’ in France for four months following a weeks’ holiday, when simple checks reveal transport was still available on the dates they claimed they could not return to UK.
B. Claiming childcare expenses from the public purse while resident in France for unproveable childcare by an undisclosed child minder offering no name or receipts, and when childcare was available for the children of key workers only owing to lockdown restrictions, having previously lied they had not claimed expenses.
A. Deserting their (Regency) Ward in March 2020 to go and live in France during the forewarned imminent lockdown. Covid was a national crisis and a time when the public would expect to look to their political representatives for leadership and moral guidance, yet these two went AWOL to their country estate in France. They then compounded this action by lying that they were ‘trapped’ in France for four months following a weeks’ holiday, when simple checks reveal transport was still available on the dates they claimed they could not return to UK.
B. Claiming childcare expenses from the public purse while resident in France for unproveable childcare by an undisclosed child minder offering no name or receipts, and when childcare was available for the children of key workers only owing to lockdown restrictions, having previously lied they had not claimed expenses.
Why is this important?
For any normal job of work the above actions would result in gross misconduct charges of dereliction of duty and misappropriation of company funds.
Each would constitute an outcome of instant dismissal.
Their actions are also a complete betrayal of the Nolan Principles of Public Life.
Now their actions have been revealed in a national newspaper, these two are unfit to continue in office until May 2023 and must step down now, whether willingly or unwillingly and we,the Citizens of Brighton and Hove, demand that you, Geoff Raw, as Chief Executive of Brighton and Hove City Council make this happen.
Each would constitute an outcome of instant dismissal.
Their actions are also a complete betrayal of the Nolan Principles of Public Life.
Now their actions have been revealed in a national newspaper, these two are unfit to continue in office until May 2023 and must step down now, whether willingly or unwillingly and we,the Citizens of Brighton and Hove, demand that you, Geoff Raw, as Chief Executive of Brighton and Hove City Council make this happen.
