Politician Resigns After Saying A Woman Was Too Ugly To Be Rape Victim

A British politician has removed himself from his party position in the wake of overwhelming public outrage and scrutiny over some truly dumbass things he had to say about a woman online.

Politicians and social media rarely mix well and this case is probably one of the best examples of that. The now ex-leader of the Liberal Democrat group on East Hampshire Council, Philip Drury thought it would be a good idea to leave some garbage comment about rape victim Serena Bowes on Facebook. Bowes, a 21-year-old fashion student, told police in Italy she was sexually assaulted while visiting a club in Florence. She now faces extradition to Italy on charges of making a false allegation, which she disputes (more about that here).

As you can imagine, the case has touched off a lot of debate and a lot of discussion on social media. One opinion that one one needs at all ever is this bullshit one, offered up by Drury, via The Independent:

He wrote: “Not sure anyone would even want to think about it looking at her lol”.

Oh yeah big “lol” there buddy. Never forget to put the “lol” at the end of your disgusting comments about women and rape victim, to make sure everyone knows you’re just joking around with your bullshit.

“The council was appalled by the comments,” a spokesperson for East Hampshire District Council told The Independent, noting that they had launched an independent disciplinary investigation.

An investigation by the council found that no further action should be taken against him because he was not acting as a councillor at the time the comments were made. Ferris Cowper, the Conservative leader of the council, said he was “disappointed” that Mr Drury would be allowed to remain as an elected representative, but that the council had no further powers to remove him from office.

According to The Independent, Drury will now serve as an independent councillor for the area’s Whitehill ward, which is not sitting well with a lot of people. “Although EHDC has now exhausted its legal options, the Council remains disappointed both with the actions of the councillor and also the effectiveness of the regulatory regime,” Cowper said.

According to the Daily Mail, Drury was like toooooootally exhausted you guys when he posted those comments, which is cool because as everyone knows it’s fine to say anything gross/sexist/vile/horrible if you haven’t had a full eight hour night sleep. Or something.

Mr Drury put his comment, which was immediately slammed as ‘awful’ and ‘vile’ by others on Facebook, down to tiredness following a business trip in China. He was quoted as saying by Solent News Agency: ‘I was excessively tired and was working nights. I had just come back from an excessive Chinese business trip – I was tired. I will remain on the council.

‘That is all I want to say until I release a press release.’

Other Facebook users reacted with fury, with one labelling Mr Drury a ‘pitiful excuse for a human being’ and another saying they would not want to be represented by a councillor who made the comment.

So it’s the “sorry not sorry I said it because I was tired/drunk/sick/etc.” type of apology. OK.