York councillor apologises over Jack Charlton comments

The Green Party in York has apologised for comments made by a city councillor in the wake of Jack Charlton's death.

In a post shared by Cllr Dave Taylor on Friday, on the day the former Leeds United footballer died, he described him as an abuser of animals, because of his support for blood sports.

He posted:

“Jack ‘Bloodsports’ Charlton has died. Good.”

He has already said sorry on his own social media feeds.

The City of York Council has launched and investigation along with the Green Party.

A spokesperson says:

“We understand some comments were made at the weekend that have caused significant upset.

Our formal complaints procedure here: york.gov.uk/CouncillorConduct

We cannot comment further whilst we investigate these allegations.”

The spokesperson declined to say how many complaints the council has already received about the comments.

York Green Party has also launched an internal investigation into the matter, and apologised to Jack Charlton’s family and fans.

"Late yesterday evening we were made aware of a post Councillor Dave Taylor made on his personal Facebook page in relation to the passing of Jack Charlton.

We would like to apologise to the family of Jack Charlton for any additional upset this has caused at what is clearly an already upsetting time. We would also like to apologise to any fans who were also offended by these comments.

Animal rights and hunting bring out strong emotions in people and Councillor Taylor made his comments in relation to Jack Charlton’s past involvement and promotion of hunting. 

However, Councillor Taylor now acknowledges that his comments and timing were inappropriate. 

The Green Party have strong values and it is clear that Councillor Taylor’s comments fall short of these values and what we expect from our elected officials.

York Green Party will be taking forward our internal investigation in relation to this."

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