One of the members of the Isle of Wight council’s Ethical Standards Committee has resigned his position after watching Cllr David Pugh giving evidence about Island libraries to the Culture Media & Sports Committee in Westminster last week.
Keith Fagan told VentnorBlog, “Having watched it (Cllr David Pugh giving evidence to the Select Committee) three times, I feel that by remaining silent, I would be condoning or endorsing his words.
“I disagree with them because I think there are a great deal of inaccuracies there … to say the least.”
Claims Pugh’s evidence incorrect
As the former chairman of the Bembridge Library Users Group Keith had access to a great deal of information he told VB, and state to us, “I know that some of the facts given in evidence, in oral form, were incorrect.
Keith says his resignation isn’t the end of this, “I don’t just want to resign and disappear in to the ether, I need to take this up.”
Alert Select Committee
He plans to tell the Westminster Select Committee about his views and provide them background, “I just need the committee to be aware, that the information that was provided to them was inaccurate – whether that’s deliberate or not, is up to them to decide. I will definitley be writing to them with my submissions.”
Cllr Pugh’s response
We contacted Cllr Pugh for his reaction. He told VB, “If Mr Fagan has concerns about any particular aspects of the evidence I gave, I would welcome hearing from him and will provide any necessary clarification.”
Update 8:35: Added David Pugh’s reaction and Keith Fagan quote about informing the Select Committee
