Video
Tory councillor forgets to mute the sound when he calls Lib Dem councillor ‘thick’ during Zoom meeting
This was the moment viewers at home (there were a few) saw and heard Cllr Alan Sharp describe a fellow councillor as 'thick'. Some members of the committee at East Cambs Council claimed not to have heard it - and no one owned up to the remark at the time. Picture: ZOOM/YOUTUBE - Credit: Archant
A councillor – and vice chairperson of the SE Cambridgeshire Conservative Association – apologised today for labelling a Lib Dem councillor ‘thick’ during a live stream of East Cambs Council.
Cllr Alan Sharp was audibly and visibly heard to mutter the word whilst Lib Dem Charlotte Cane was pressing ahead with a massive round of questions during a finance committee.
Cllr Cane was aghast when she heard the comment – and demanded to know who had said it.
Although it was obvious to those watching (Cllr Sharp’s Zoom frame lit up) he declined to own up during the meeting.
But faced the following morning with the evidence, he apologised.
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Lib Dem councillor Simon Harries said: “To be fair to Councillor Sharp, I’m glad to say he did apologise to other members of the committee this morning, which we should note as a point in his favour.”
Cllr Sharp, a school governor who lives Stetchworth but represents Bottisham, was clearly heard near the end of the first of what turned out to be a four-hour meeting.
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Cllr Charlotte Cane looked for confirmation of who had called her ‘thick’
Confirmation came there none.
But the camera, in this instance, never lies
Cllr Sharp is a retired accountant, having worked for the prison service for 22 years. He was elected to the council in 2016.
Cllr Josh Schumann, and deputy leader of the council, tweeted today a denial that he had tried to brush the issue aside.
He attended the meeting but tweeted that “I did not try and sweep it under the carpet”.
He told Lib Dem leader Cllr Lorna Dupre: “If you hear what I said was ‘I’m sure this can be considered after the meeting’.
“There was no way of pausing the meeting and checking what was said until the meeting was finished - nor should we have done.”
