A FORMER police officer ousted as chairman of the Cheshire force’s watchdog could now be removed from the panel altogether over his comments about rainbow lanyards.

Bob Fousert could soon also be removed as an independent person on Cheshire East Council – a role which means he currently sits on a panel that hears complaints about councillors.

It comes after he sparked anger at June’s police and crime panel meeting by suggesting officers wearing rainbow lanyards to support equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people were ‘crossing the boundary’ from impartiality into making an ‘overtly political statement’.

He was later removed as chairman of the panel, and now CEC members have asked the authority’s monitoring officer to prepare a report considering his future in the two roles.

Cllr Suzanne Brookfield, Labour member for Crewe East, said: “Ignorance may be accidental, but hatred is not, and ignorance can often be the breeding ground for hate.

“We all make mistakes, I think we would all accept that, and as such it is right and proper that when one makes a mistake that offends an entire community we recognise and apologise for that mistake.

“What is deeply concerning is that Mr Fousert did not do that, and he has shown today even that he has lacked the self-awareness of the offence he has caused – so I would question his judgement and competency.”

Mr Fousert originally made the comments when asking David Keane, Cheshire’s police and crime commissioner, whether it was appropriate that Deputy Chief Constable Julie Cooke wore a rainbow lanyard with the phrase ‘LGBT+ Ally’ in a meeting he had attended.

He said: “Do you consider such an overt political statement to be appropriate for a senior officer to wear, given that the police should be seen to be impartial in all it does?

“This is taking part in politics. I feel that she has crossed the boundary with regards to the very overt statement she is making in wearing that lanyard.”

Mr Keane said he was ‘deeply shocked’ and ‘deeply saddened’ by the remarks, while Cllr Ant Critchley, Labour CEC member for Crewe Central, claimed he had ‘made being gay political’.

Mr Fousert then rejected calls to resign as panel chairman from Mr Keane and some Labour panel members, before he was voted out from the role at a special meeting on July 5.

Before councillors debated the issue, Mr Fousert insisted that it was not up to them to remove him from the panel and that he had not attacked anyone with his original comments.

He said: “Why should I be stopped from carrying out a function that I have done with impartiality, integrity, fairness, honesty and openness for over eight years – as a number of councillors present here will know?

“Why have these councillors proposed this notice of motion when they do not know me or any of the work that I have done on the panels?

“This motion is political opportunism that is intolerant, vindictive and smacks of a witch-hunt designed to move me and to negate the work I do.

“It is an unfortunate fact of public life today that when someone makes an observation or comment with regards to LGBT issues they are often treated like heretics and either vilified, pilloried or castigated – why is this so?”

But Mr Fousert’s comments were condemned by councillors across the chamber at Thursday’s full council meeting.

And Cllr Stewart Gardiner, Conservative member for Knutsford, was applauded by councillors from across the political divide after speaking openly and passionately about what the rainbow lanyard means to him as a gay man.

He said: “As a gay man, I know from my own life experiences how lonely it can be in the workplace, and how careful you are in what you say and do in case you give yourself away and let your secret out.

“In September 2000 I started work in London, a short walk from Soho, and not long after I started I was asked by one of director’s secretaries if I was gay.

“I told her that I was. Before long I was out with my immediate colleagues. This was a positive experience and I felt I was being accepted.

“About a year later that secretary left, and I wrote in her card ‘thank you for giving me the courage to be out in the office’. At her leaving presentation, one of the directors gave the card to her and said ‘it is interesting what you discover when you read these cards’.

“Some of the directors started making my life more difficult, and in the end I left as I felt I didn’t fit in.

“If you are gay, you want to feel safe, and you want to know that those around you are supportive of you.”

While condemning Mr Fousert’s comments as ‘prehistoric’, Cllr Allen Gage, Conservative member for Willaston and Rope, proposed an amendment which would have seen Mr Fousert remain in his roles.

But after a speech from Cllr Sam Corcoran, CEC’s Labour leader, condemning Mr Fousert’s words and actions in the aftermath, the amendment ultimately failed to attract a supporter to secure a vote.

Forty-one councillors voted for a report to be prepared considering Mr Fousert’s removal from the two roles, with none voting against, but 14 councillors abstained from the vote.

Mr Fousert will not be able to hear cases involving councillor conduct while the report is prepared by CEC’s monitoring officer.