Councillors attending today's budget setting meeting at Warwickshire County Council (WCC) were met by a large number of parents calling for the resignation of three under fire Conservatives.

The trio of councillors have faced a flurry of criticism following a meeting at the end of January where they made a number of comments about SEND children and the rising demands on the council.

Since then clips of their comments - which included accusations that parents were "swapping tips" on how to get kids registered as SEND - have circulated on social media.

Over 20,000 people have signed a petition calling for Cllr Brian Hammersley, Cllr Jeff Morgan and Cllr Clare Golby to resign, while they are also investigated by the local authority.

And local parents today (February 8) made their feelings clear as they covered the steps outside WCC's Shire Hall base, and sat in the chamber brandishing placards calling for the Tory trio to step down.

Protestors have called for all three councillors to step down (image via Elissa Novak)

"We just want their resignations," protestors sang to the tune of Another Brick in the Wall by Pink Floyd.

"We don't need no strict controls.

"No underfunding in our classrooms.

"Hey! Councillors! Leave our kids alone."

Placards contained messages including "time to resign," "strict correction for badly behaved councillors" and "SEND them to the Jobcentre".

Councillors Hammersley, Morgan and Golby did not attend today's meeting.

'SEND them to the Jobcentre' (image via Elissa Novak)

Council leader Cllr Izzi Seccombe made a statement at the meeting saying: "Firstly and most importantly, I'm concerned at the damage to our relationship with the SEND community and the confidence that Warwickshire children with SEND and their families have in us.

"There can be no doubt that this important relationship is damaged, which is a terrible shame given the amount of shared work, effort and progress that we have all achieved over the past few years.

"And we must work to see what we can do to repair and sustain that relationship."

Backlash

The comments from the three councillors have led to a huge wave of backlash from parents and other local politicians.

Warwickshire Parent Carer Voice said in a statement the comments were "unacceptable".

One grandmother, 54, whose two grandsons have additional needs said she was "disgusted" by the comments made at the meeting.

The retired bank customer service worker said her daughter called her in tears when she watched a video of the meeting.

Her 12-year-old grandson has autism while is six-year-old brother is awaiting assessment for suspected ADHD.

Calls for the councillors to resign have come from parents, locals and other politicians (image via Elissa Novak)

The gran said: "I knew nothing about any of this until it impacted my family.

"My daughter sent me the video and she was that upset she called me in tears.

"I thought 'that's disgusting'.

"These people need to be not brought to justice, because there is no justice, but just told that that is not on.

"You do not sit there and say that SEND people should be institutionalised.

"Yes you have naughty children, but some of them aren't naughty.

"It's infuriated me and I am not usually that sort of person."

One of the councillors suggested there was 'something in the water' causing a rise in demand on SEND services (image via Elissa Novak)

Cllr Zoe Leventhal, a barrister specialising in disability discrimination and parliamentary candidate for Kenilworth and Southam, has called for "immediate action".

"Conservative Councillors Jeff Morgan, Brian Hammersley, and Clare Golby's comments questioning the legitimacy of children's needs for special educational support not only display a profound misunderstanding of the challenges faced by these children and their families but also undermine the critical support structures in place to assist them.

"We call upon the Conservative party to take immediate and commensurate action to address these remarks.

"The focus should be on taking this appropriate action and supporting children and families affected.

"Whilst I profoundly disagree with their comments, personal comments or threats on the councillors concerned are wholly unacceptable."

Parents said their parenting should not be questioned (image via Elissa Novak)

Apology

The three councillors have since issued apologies for their comments.

In quotes issued by the council's communications department, Cllr Morgan expressed regret over "the words I used to make a point about demand and need in the SEND area" without reference to or clarification of the point he was trying to make. 

In the council's release, Cllr Golby accepted her remarks had been "open to interpretation" and apologised "for any offence caused", again stopping short of a retraction. 

This was different to Cllr Hammersley's statement where he apologised "unreservedly" and acknowledged "clumsiness and lack of care" when querying a sharp rise in the volume of SEND cases and whether there was "something in the water". He accepted that "I have some learning to do".

Protestors say an apology is not enough (image via Elissa Novak)

Meanwhile the council said it was "clear that these comments have caused significant offence, distress and upset to children and their families within the SEND community".

The statement added: "The council wishes to emphasise that the comments made are not representative of the views of the wider council body including those councillors and officers who work so hard to provide support and opportunities for children with SEND.  

"The council has built strong relationships with groups within the SEND community, and we are conscious of the damage this situation may cause to those relationships."

All three councillors are being investigated following multiple complaints from locals.

'Needs a Kick'

Cll Hammersley has added fuel to the fire by saying the person behind a "vile" TikTok video that mixes his words with images depicting restrained children "needs a kick". 

Selected comments from all three councillors were chopped to make a video that was then posted to TikTok account SEND Reform England, which has more than 16,800 followers. 

Audio from the clips continued as pictures cut away to black and white images depicting children in straitjackets, tied to radiators and preparing to be caned.

The video has been viewed more than 307,000 times on this channel alone after people were encouraged to "share this everywhere" and is just one part of the online uproar over the comments.

One of the councillors said parents were 'swapping tips' about getting their children registered as SEND (image via Elissa Novak)

The Local Democracy Reporting Service contacted Cllr Hammersley who wrote back to say he had "one comment at the moment". 

The rest read: "Whoever put that vile sh** on TikTok saying we want kids put into asylums and be institutionalised needs a kick, as you know and we know those words were NOT spoken by any of us and needs to be corrected. 

"They were spoken by another person in the meeting if you have watched the recording, as you probably have. Get this corrected and I might have more to say."