Bristol councillor to be sued over Nazi comment about bosses

Richard Eddy (left) and Gary Hopkins deny any wrongdoing

A councillor who likened authority bosses to Nazi Joseph Goebbels is being sued and is under formal investigation.

Conservative Richard Eddy made the comments during a Bristol City Council meeting over plans to transfer staff to council-owned Bristol Waste.

Liberal Democrat Gary Hopkins allegedly told staff they were not telling the truth at the same meeting.

Lawyers for two council staff have served the pair with a defamation claim following the meeting in February.

Mr Eddy told managers at the human resources committee their attempts to justify the transfer was "worthy of Dr Goebbels and the Third Reich".

While Mr Hopkins said: "I don't believe a word of what has been presented to us by the management side."

The councillors made the comments at a human resources committee meeting in February

The authority's monitoring officer Tim O'Hara concluded their comments could amount to breaches of the councillors' code of conduct, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

Mr O'Hara has referred the matter to independent investigators at the request of the pair, who say they do not trust the council to give them a fair hearing.

Lawyers for the council's director of workforce and change, John Walsh, and head of facilities management, David Martin, have served Mr Eddy and Mr Hopkins with defamation claims demanding a retraction, public apology and damages.

Both councillors deny any wrongdoing.

The council has removed a Zoom recording of the meeting from its YouTube channel.

The decision to transfer about 200 cleaning and security staff to Bristol Waste was later approved by the city council's cabinet.