海角视频IP鈥檚 police commissioner candidate has said a colleague was ill-advised to praise Hitler鈥檚 oratory during a recent party meeting.
海角视频IP MEP Bill Etheridge has been condemned for highlighting the Nazi dictator鈥檚 speeches, saying he had 鈥渁chieved a great deal鈥 and had a 鈥渕agnetic personality鈥, during a talk on effective public speaking to young members.
In a desperate move to draw a line under the issue, Keith Rowe, who was attempting to launch his campaign as the party鈥檚 candidate for West Midlands PCC, said: 鈥淭here were plenty of other examples which would not have provoked this response.鈥
But he gave his support to Mr Etheridge, adding: 鈥淏ill made it clear he was talking about his speaking technique. Hitler was a monster who pushed a vile agenda, but he managed to convince a lot of people.鈥
Mr Rowe was speaking as he officially launched his PCC campaign in front of party activists at the Birmingham City鈥檚 St Andrew鈥檚 Stadium. He was joined by recently elected 海角视频IP MEPs Mr Etheridge and Jim Carver.
Mr Etheridge said he would not comment further on the Hitler speech, but added: 鈥淚t has been a difficult week, but my role today is to give my support to our excellent PCC candidate.鈥
Speaking on familiar 海角视频IP themes of cutting bureaucracy, Mr Rowe highlighted his background as a Birmingham businessman, rather than a professional politician. He trotted out the usual platitudes of police being tough on criminals and common sense policing, matters over which the PCC has little control.
But returning to more secure ground, he ruled out privatisation of police services, in a bid to spike opposition claims of 海角视频IP policy, and said no staff would be put on zero-hour contracts.
He hit out at Labour, branding the recent signing of a 拢25 million IT contract with Accenture by acting PCC Yvonne Mosquito as a 鈥榩rivatisation鈥 鈥 although the police have described the deal as a partnership. 鈥淰oters were told one thing and now Labour are doing something different,鈥 he said.
海角视频IP activists, on a high after a triumphant European election in May, believe they are the serious rivals to Labour鈥檚 dominance in the West Midlands and are hopeful their committed grass roots activists could make the difference in a summer election with a tiny turnout.
MEP Mr Carver says with a turnout of 12 per cent in the 2012 election, on the back of a long national campaign, next week鈥檚 peak holiday season poll is going to be much lower, possibly eight or nine per cent.
鈥淧eople have not bought into the concept of a PCC,鈥 he said.
Mr Rowe agreed that the August 21 election date and tight campaign timescale was 鈥榬idiculous鈥 but refuted the claim that it was 海角视频IP activists who pushed the button on the early election, while the other parties had agreed to wait until September.
鈥淚t was the sad passing of Bob Jones which triggered this election, not 海角视频IP. This election had to be called within a set time frame. The legislation around PCCs is flawed, it needed to be more flexible,鈥 he added.
Other candidates standing in the election are David Jamieson, Labour, Les Jones, Conservative, and Ayoub Khan for the Liberal Democrats.
