Tory councillor sends email to town mayor suggesting he has Nazi ancestors
A Tory councillor has been suspended for two months after he sent an email to a town mayor suggesting he had Nazi ancestors.
Cllr David Rudd, a member of the Conservative-controlled East Riding of Yorkshire Council, asked Market Weighton mayor Peter Hemmerman if his family had been members of the fascist organisation.
Rudd, who has previously called for Hemmerman to resign, told Local Democracy Reporting Service: "One night after a couple large glasses of wine I decided to send him a private email.
"I said, 'Dear Peter, I wonder if you could tell me if any of your ancestors were members of the Nazi Party?'"
Hemmerman, who has German ancestry, welcomed the two-month suspension following his complaint but said the punishment should have been much worse.
He told the BBC: "That doesn't seem like much of a punishment to me.
"I don't think he should be allowed to represent the town anymore."
He said the dispute started when he reported Rudd to the Standards Board after a letter criticising him was published to Facebook.
Hemmerman added: "My ancestors were German but they first arrived in London in the 1820s. I think he was trying to imply that I act like a dictator."
Rudd, of Wolds Weighton ward, denied he was a racist but admitted the email was “a silly and stupid thing to do”.
He described it as a "cheeky dig" and a “flippant comment”.
Rudd told the Hull Daily Mail: "I do not consider myself a racist, my mother was Armenian. I was having a cheeky dig at him.
