Councillor breached rules over '˜liar' tweet

A standards panel hearing was held yesterday (February 6), about a Twitter comment posted by Councillor Robert Nemeth’s on July 19, 2016.

The councillor accused Cllr Warren Morgan of ‘lying’ over the claim that seven branch libraries would close if Hove library remained in the Carnegie building.

The complaint was made by Cllr Morgan, who considered the tweet a breach of the Code of Conduct for Members.

When delivering the panel’s findings Diane Bushell, the independent chair of the panel said: “Having heard from Councillor Nemeth and his witnesses, the panel concluded that Cllr Nemeth had not substantiated the claims he made in his tweet of 19 July 2016. In addition the panel considered that the use the language of ‘liar’ or ‘lying’ is disrespectful and of itself is a breach of the code. The panel also considered that if Cllr Nemeth believed Cllr Morgan had lied, that was a matter that could have been brought through the council’s code of conduct as a standards complaint to be formally investigated.”

The panel was made up of Ms Bushell, as well as three councillors: Cllr Tom Druitt (Green), Cllr Alan Robins (Labour) and Cllr Ann Norman (Conservative).

Cllr Nemeth was told to delete the offending tweet, and was offered training on the code of conduct for members, as well as the social media protocol for members.

The panel also recommended that the social media protocol be reviewed to enable the right of reply, for example through tagging.