A WAR of words has erupted after a UKIP councillor on Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council slammed Conservatives for blocking a committee switch – and a senior Tory branded UKIP’s members “a bit of a joke”.

Councillor Stephen West, UKIP member for Tadley Central, proposed a motion at the latest full council meeting, calling for the party to have a seat on a borough council policy committee.

He requested a seat on the economic, planning and housing overview and scrutiny committee in exchange for the party’s place on the borough council’s scrutiny committee.

The other UKIP member on the council, Cllr Matt Ellery, who represents Brighton Hill South, was due to second the motion – but he did not attend the meeting. However the leader of the borough’s Liberal Democrats group, Cllr Gavin James, agreed to second the motion in his place.

Due to the nature of the motion, all 55 councillors present at the meeting needed to vote in favour of supporting Cllr West’s call – but three Tory councillors voted against the plans.

Cllr Mark Ruffell, Cabinet member for planning, said he would not support the motion as he wasn’t satisfied that UKIP would attend all the meetings due to previous absences by Cllr Ellery.

He told The Gazette: “They don’t seem to be taking being a councillor seriously. One of them seems to have not turned up to council on the day the motion is proposed. I think they are a bit of a joke. They behave like jokers and that is why everyone is laughing.”

But Cllr West has slammed the Conservatives for blocking the switch. He said: “All that UKIP wanted to do was have a seat on one of the two committees where policy is discussed.

“The question is why are the Conservatives afraid? They have the largest party in the council, so why would they possibly want to block UKIP having a democratic voice within the council?

“They are not democratic at all. The Independent party, the Labour party and the Liberal Democrats party supported it, and the Conservatives thought they would stick the knife in because it’s UKIP.”

Cllr West told The Gazette that the chairman of the Basingstoke UKIP branch, Alan Stone, and Cllr West will be meeting with Cllr Ellery, who is Mr Stone’s son, about his poor attendance.

“Matthew will be sitting down with me and the chairman of Basingstoke UKIP for a meeting,” said Cllr West. “We will be looking at what I expect from Matt as a councillor, and I expect him to turn up to meetings and do his job and represent the people of Brighton Hill.

“We are councillors and we have a responsibility to the electorate, and we take this responsibility very seriously.”

Cllr West said he will submit the committee switch motion again at the next full council meeting in February.