A COUNCILLOR who swore in a public meeting said he stands by his claim the F-word is “no longer taboo” after he was found to have breached the councillor’s code of conduct.

Clacton UKIP councillor Peter Cawthron faced a standards hearing on Wednesday after failing to apologise for using the F-word during a video meeting broadcast live on Facebook last November.

He uttered the profanity after a discussion over plans to require public fireworks displays to promote a campaign about the impact of fireworks on animals.

Mr Cawthron previously admitted he said what “would have been an obscenity in the 1950, 60s and 70s” but it was “no longer perceived to be one by the majority of the British people”.

After failing to resolve the matter informally, the council’s monitoring officer made a formal complaint.

It stated Mr Cawthron had conducted himself in a manner which could reasonably be regarded as bringing his office, or the authority, into disrepute.

A report by an external investigator found Mr Cawthron also failed to comply with the principle of accountability by not engaging with the investigation.

The council’s standards committee, which Mr Cawthron did not attend, determined he had breached the code of conduct.

Committee member Nick Turner said: “What he failed to do was mute and turn off his camera.

“A simple apology would have sorted it out but he choose not to do that. The failure to apologise is the issue.” The sanctions the committee decided to impose included publishing its findings on the council’s website and reporting them to the full council.

The committee also called for a statement to be prepared in relation to the code of conduct and Mr Cawthron’s “inability” to engage in the standards process.

Speaking to the Gazette, Mr Cawthron said: “Although I initially engaged with the monitoring officer, I decided I was not going to apologise for an accident where I was overheard in my living room on an un-muted microphone.

“I stand by my assertion on the evening that the F-word is no longer the taboo it was in days past – it is now part of everyday speech for most English people.”

Meanwhile, a Gazette poll found 75 per cent of readers still consider the F-word a profanity.