A Tory councillor has been suspended from the party after he made alleged 'rape jokes' in a group chat.
Daniel Gibbin, chair of Solihull Council's children's services board, had allegedly penned a message saying "Tag rape is great fun", according to a report from Birmingham Live.
Screenshots also show a participant in the group with phone number matching his suggesting that a woman had to say no "at least 10 times", and "up to that is okay".
The councillor, who represents the Olton ward on Solihull Borough Council, has emphatically denied sending the messages himself and has distanced himself from their content.
The comments were made while promoting a local speed dating event on a group chat containing hundreds of members.
Mr Gibbin has since been suspended from suspended from the local Conservatives group pending an investigation, according to a party spokesperson.
He will now sit as an independent. It is not yet clear if the suspension has affected his position as chair of the children's services board.
A statement was issued by Ian Courts, leader of the council, confirming the suspension, which said: "I have been sent a photo of some social media content emanating from Coun Daniel Gibbin’s phone.
"He has issued a statement categorically denying the messages were sent by him and that they were deleted when he saw them. In the circumstances, I have suspended Coun Gibbin from the Conservative Group pending an investigation.”
A spokesperson for the Conservative party said: "Daniel Gibbin has been suspended pending an investigation.”
The councillor's reported remarks were posted in a group chat which associated itself with Round Table, a not-for-profit enterprise which promotes networking and work in the community for men aged 18-45.
His alleged messages are not thought to have been in any way connected to the organisation itself, which says its members last year raised £4 million and dedicated 160,000 volunteer hours to good causes.
The Round Table Great Britain & Ireland National Board told the Mirror yesterday that the behaviour shown "under no circumstances should be considered appropriate or acceptable" , and confirmed that Mr Gibbin had been "immediately suspended pending an investigation".
"We recognise the growth in WhatsApp as a means of communication for many different social organisations and have a robust policy in place prohibiting the use of inappropriate content and behaviour across all forms of communication.
"With this in mind we have today reminded our entire membership of these policies as well as their responsibility to respect others and uphold the community focused values of our organisation.", they added.
