'I'll defy Council Twitter ban' says Councillor

Councillor Wera Hobhouse

Rochdale Councillor Wera Hobhouse has spoken of her bemusement after being asked to “refrain from tweeting” in full Council meetings in Rochdale.

The council acted after Councillor Hobhouse was criticised for ‘tweeting’ in the meetings.

Councillor Hobhouse sent a total of 12 ‘tweets’ on the micro-blogging site during the last full Council meeting in October.

Councillor Hobhouse said: “At a time when interest in politics is at an all-time low, this threat is ill-informed, ill-thought and illustrates why election turn-outs are as low as they are.

“I have been tweeting for nearly two years. It’s an instant form of communication that is fast and fun and is a really good way of communicating politics which often can be quite dull.

“This action from an out of touch borough solicitor shows what is wrong with local government. Residents will see this as another attempt by unelected council officers to ensure that the secretive nature of local government prevails."

Councillor Hobhouse added: “Many of my followers are local residents who find the site a good way to keep up to date with local news.

“I started tweeting from council meetings after I saw many fellow Councillors up and down our country tweeting from Council meetings, as well as a number of MPs tweeting directly from the House of Commons.

“The Borough Solicitor though has sent me a letter asking me to stop tweeting, giving the reason that it breaks the Council 'Code of Conduct' that says, 'We must treat others with respect.' What is disrespectful about me tweeting - ‘We are now hearing about the excellent results of the Borough’s secondary schools. Well done staff and pupils!’?

“Frankly I think this demonstrates a bizarre attitude towards Councillors informing residents of what is going on at a public meeting.

“If they ban me, I'll defy it - it's time that we communicated more effectively. If they have to throw me out for communicating with my constituents then so be it, the real twits here are overpaid council staff who are still in the dark ages!”

Rochdale resident Nick Thornsby, who follows Councillor Hobhouse’s tweets, said: “I think this is a ridiculous decision by the Council. I use twitter as a great way of keeping abreast of national and local politics – if MPs are allowed to tweet from the Chamber during Prime Minister’s Questions, why shouldn’t local Councillors do the same at full Council meetings?

“Councillor Hobhouse is our elected representative on the Council, so why are unelected Council officials trying to prevent her from communicating with us? It’s a ludicrous request from Council officials who clearly don’t ‘get’ twitter.”

The Leader of the Labour Party, Councillor Colin Lambert said if Councillor Hobhouse continues to tweet then it will be upto the Mayor of Rochdale to remove her from the meetings.

Councillor Lambert said: “It is disgraceful. Councillor Hobhouse should be concentrating on the issues at hand and if she is tweeting then she is not concentrating.

“If she wants to tweet after the council meetings then that is up to her but in the meetings she should be concentrating.”

A spokesperson for Rochdale Borough Council said the Council wouldn’t be issuing a further statement following a statement made by Andy Zuntz, Executive Director at Rochdale Borough Council last week.

Mr Zuntz said: “Council meetings warrant members’ full attention at all times because important decisions are being made that impact on our borough. The Mayor requests at the start of each meeting that all mobile devices are switched off so that members can focus on the discussions at hand. It’s felt that it’s inappropriate for our councillors, or indeed officers, to be tweeting during such important meetings.”