At last night’s full council meeting, Barry Abraham, the ward councillor for Wootton Bridge gave his view on the damning ‘inadequate’ Ofsted report over child protection, which had been released the day before.
He was speaking in support of Cllr Dawn Cousins, cabinet member for Children and Young People, who had just finished defending the council in response to the report.
Cllr Abraham was quick to jump to Cllr Cousins’ defence, saying, “I am glad that Cllr Cousins isn’t going to resign” adding that “she is the person that can make a difference and improve it.”
‘No child deaths’
He went on to say, “as serious as this has been, there have been no child deaths on the Isle of Wight and I think that has to be borne in mind. I think that is the most important thing here.”
Cllr Abraham’s comment was met with a considerable number of gasps from the public gallery (and press) as well as incredulity from the opposition.
Damning response from public
The response of readers was damning, one reader said, “‘No children died’ – that’s OK then, children can carry on being exposed to neglect, abuse and mental cruelty that scars for life.”
Whilst another said, “Nice to know that if I don’t let anyone die, I can keep my job regardless how badly I do” going on to say, “with the bar already set so low, they’ve got nothing to lose I guess.”
One reader added, “Oh well that’s alright then! Is there a sliding scale of number of deaths before someone resigns?” adding, “I think it shows how detached from reality they have become. This is a deeply concerning report and that is their best response.”
Facebook response
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