A hand gesture made by City of York Council’s deputy leader during a meeting has sparked complaints, an opposition call for an apology and counter-claims about previous behaviour from the latter.
The complaints came after Labour’s Cllr Pete Kilbane appeared to turn his fingers next to his head during an exchange with opposition Liberal Democrats in February’s Budget meeting.
Liberal Democrat opposition leader Cllr Nigel Ayre said such gestures and language also allegedly used had no place in council meetings and he called on Cllr Kilbane to take responsibility for his actions.
Video
In this clip, at 1:01:18, Cllr Kilbane, with his head nearest the camera, makes two hand gestures.
Then, at 1:02:34, Cllr Ayre says this gesture amounted to Cllr Kilbane accusing people on the opposite side of the chamber being “mental”.
In his reply from 1:03:00 Cllr Kilbane says the accusation is “made up”, repeats the gesture and says it “is an indication that you are indulging in fantasy politics”.
But Cllr Kilbane said he would never use discriminatory language, was misunderstood and claimed the complaint was politically-motivated as Coun Ayre had also previously made gestures.
It comes after the complaints against Cllr Kilbane from the opposition and a member of the public went before a council Joint Standards Committee assessment hearing on Friday, April 11.
They alleged that the deputy leader first made the gesture and mouthed inappropriate language in response to Liberal Democrat deputy leader Cllr Paula Widdowson making a disputed claim about public realm vacancies.
Cllr Ayre then called on the deputy leader to withdraw the comments and apologise.
Cllr Kilbane then denied using the term mental and said the gesture came in response to the opposition indulging in fantasy politics and making up facts.
The exchange was recorded during the council’s broadcast of its Budget meeting on YouTube.
A council spokesperson said the committee decided to resolve the matter informally and appropriate advice was issued.
Following the ruling, the Liberal Democrats alleged the deputy leader had made ableist remarks and gestures.
Opposition deputy leader Coun Widdowson said Cllr Kilbane should apologise or resign following the exchange, especially in light of criticism Labour had received nationally over proposals to change disability benefits.
The opposition deputy leader said: “Cllr Kilbane made the gesture simply for advocating on behalf of our residents to ensure our neighbourhoods remain clean and safe.
“To make such a gesture while the Labour government is cutting crucial support to disabled people in York only deepens the harm.”
Cllr Kilbane said the standards ruling showed the complaints had failed at the first hurdle and accused the Liberal Democrats of wasting council officers’ time and taxpayer’s money on them.
He added Cllr Ayre and Cllr Widdowson had previously shown a relaxed attitude to hand gestures during a meeting in 2021.
In a recording of that meeting, Cllr Ayre can be seen waving his hand while former Green councillor Andy D’Agorne is speaking and Cllr Widdowson can be seen smiling shortly afterwards.
Cllr Kilbane said: “Cllr Ayre made his complaint during the February meeting and was informed immediately by myself and another councillor that he had misheard me and misunderstood the gesture.
“Of course, I would never use discriminatory language.
“Cllr Ayre’s and Cllr Widdowson’s previously relaxed attitudes to the former’s obscene hand gesture suggests this complaint is politically motivated, which is not an appropriate way to use council resources.
“Voters want to see us dealing with the serious issues faced by the city and not indulging in childish political games.”
Cllr Ayre said his hand gesture was the one commonly meant to mean cutting someone off.
The Liberal Democrat leader said: “Cllr Kilbane’s refusal to own up to his ableist hand gestures is disgraceful.
“Rather than showing the basic decency to apologise, he doubles down with false accusations in a pathetic attempt to deflect blame, his whataboutism is transparent.”