Butler clearly sees himself as a bit of a comedian, but his jokes are in very poor taste. He began by making a pun about the floods (that have cost five lives and caused misery for thousands), followed by a shameful dig at Cllr Tony Sharps. Butler's reference to JD Wetherspoon drew groans from the chamber because Cllr Sharps had earlier paid tribute to a late colleague and told how the pair would often meet at the pub chain. The low blow was exacerbated by the fact the colleague in question had been a long-standing and well-respected Labour councillor. Ken Iball died earlier this month.
The remark was a step too far for the chairwoman and she asked Butler to take it back. He responded by telling her there's "no need for you to get precious about this" before trying to continue with his speech. Cllr Marion Bateman was having none of it and stopped him again: "I asked you to take something back, are you going to take it back?" When Butler refused she told him to leave. Watch the full exchange below.
