Councillor apologises for rape tweet

A senior councillor has unreservedly apologised after a remark about “murdering, raping and looting” during a debate on legalised cannabis cafes. Ben Duncan, Brighton and Hove City Council's cabinet member for communities, made the comments when asked on Twitter if he smoked the illegal drug.



Coun Duncan has now unreservedly apologised for the comments. It came after opposition councillors called for Coun Duncan to resign, adding the comments were "at best irresponsible and at worst highly offensive to anyone who has suffered from rape".

Coun Duncan, who is also the Green party's national spokesman on home affairs, said: “I apologise unreservedly for mentioning rape in what was meant to be a light-hearted, ironic tweet.



"I understand that this may have caused distress and I’m sorry. On the topic of my blog about cannabis cafes, the wording is clear that I was not calling for ‘coffee shops’ to open in Brighton but was simply joining the current debate about drug decriminalisation by satirically asking whether Brighton is as liberal as Amsterdam used to be. I’m sorry if anyone misunderstood my intention.”