Must not tell the plain truth

A UKIP councillor faces an investigation after asking children in care how it felt 'to be takers from the system'.

A dozen complaints have been lodged against Gordon Gillick who also demanded to know when the children would 'give back to society'.

The 74-year-old Cambridgeshire County Councillor left other councillors stunned with his remarks, but his wife insisted he was 'challenging them' like US President John F Kennedy with his famous 'Ask not what your country can do for you' speech.

Mr Gillick was among several councillors invited to a briefing on their responsibilities as 'corporate parents' to protect children from abuse.

Three youngsters had made a film about their experiences in foster homes, and were explaining it to the councillors when Mr Gillick interrupted.

He asked: 'How does it feel to be takers from the system?'  He reportedly also asked the youngsters when they would 'start giving back to society' before walking out of the session.

Tory, Labour and Liberal Democrat councillors have all submitted complaints about the incident.

However, Mr Gillick has received the backing of UKIP, which is the third largest group on the authority.

Group leader Peter Reeve said: 'As long as he's being honest and transparent and saying what he believes, I've no problem with that.

'It may or may not be that I agree with him or that people find his views offensive, but I would rather a councillor is honest than cover up their beliefs because they are worried about it not being politically correct.'

His wife Victoria told MailOnline: 'He is very, very popular with young people. He has 15 teenage grandchildren.

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