Following Isle of Wight Conservative MP, Andrew Turner’s announcement on Friday afternoon that he would stand down – just hours after OnTheWight broke the story about him telling a class of students that being gay was “dangerous to society” – there were nationwide calls for a public apology.
None was forthcoming, or has been in the four days since.
IWCA distance themselves
However, two days after Mr Turner’s announcement, the Isle of Wight Conservative Association finally chose to distanced themselves from his comments.
On Sunday, their Facebook Page carried a statement from Cllr Ian Ward, Chairman of the IW Conservative Association, (which Facebook report was posted from London). It read,
“The Isle of Wight Conservative Association does not agree or support the comments made by Andrew Turner in any way.
“Andrew has apologised and resigned.
“The Association officers are now looking to the future and working to select a new candidate for the General Election.”
What apology?
Calls for proof that Andrew Turner had issued an apology quickly followed.
Cllr Ward went on to explain,
“I do apologise for any misunderstanding. I was asked for a statement from the Conservative Association, not from Andrew Turner. Andrew apologised to the [sic] me as the Association Chairman. I hope that clears the misunderstanding.”
Joining those seeking clarity was former Isle of Wight Cabinet Member, George Brown, who wrote,
“Come along, Ian. This is nothing like an adequate apology for Andrew’s monstrous remarks at CTK.
“Either you and your fellow officers dissociate yourselves loudly and clearly from his views, or you will reasonably be assumed to share them at least in part. This is no time for even more evasion.”
At time of publishing on Tuesday there has still not been a public apology from Andrew Turner for the comments he made four days before.
