York Green Party has launched an investigation into the conduct of its councillor Dave Taylor.
It has also apologised to the family of Jack Charlton over Cllr Taylor’s inflammatory Facebook post saying he was “sick of the adulation of this animal abuser” shortly after the footballer’s death was announced.
In a statement the party said they were made aware Cllr Taylor’s Facebook post “late yesterday evening”:
“We would like to apologise to the family of Jack Charlton for any additional upset this has caused at what is clearly an already upsetting time.
“We would also like to apologise to any fans who were also offended by these comments.”
‘Forgive Dave’
Cllr Taylor later deleted his post and apologised, but there has been a huge backlash to his comments.
“Animal rights and hunting bring out strong emotions in people and Councillor Taylor made his comments in relation to Jack Charlton’s past involvement and promotion of hunting,” York Greens said.
“However, Councillor Taylor now acknowledges that his comments and timing were inappropriate.
“The Green Party has strong values and it is clear that Councillor Taylor’s comments fall short of these values and what we expect from our elected officials. York Green Party will be taking forward our internal investigation in relation to this.”
The party added that he has been an active ward councillor for 14 years and has been re-elected three times “which we feel reflects the hard work he has done for the community. We hope people in time will be able to forgive Dave.”