Credit;PA
A Welsh councillor has stepped down from his position after saying “all Tories should be shot” during a meeting.
Ieuan Williams, an independent councillor in Anglesey, north Wales, has apologised since making the comment on Monday morning and referred himself to the council’s standards committee.
The remarks have prompted fury among Conservative politicians, including local MP Virginia Crosbie, who called it “appalling” and said she already wears a stab vest to surgeries.
Crosbie told WalesOnline she was “disgusted” that Williams felt able to make such a comment and said she had been the target of “nastiness” from Plaid Cymru and other councillors since being elected in 2019.
Williams said in a statement: “I apologise profusely for any offence caused by my inappropriate comment.
“The remark was made at the end of an emotionally charged statement, following a presentation on poverty on Anglesey.
“I am obviously not advocating shooting anyone and have apologised to all members present at the meeting.
“I have also referred myself to the standards committee and have stood down as deputy leader and member of the executive whilst any potential investigation takes place.”
The Lligwy representative said his comment was “not about any one individual” but a reaction to hearing that food bank use on Anglesey has increased by 99 per cent since November 2022.
He said that although he withdrew his “crass remark”, he hoped others would see the real issue was his “passion in fighting the corner of the most vulnerable in our society against a party which seems happy to forget about them”.
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