City leader 'stooped to new low'

Mr Whitby has said he did not intend to offend the mentally ill

A councillor says the leader of Birmingham City Council "stooped to a new low" when he accused her of being delusional and having schizophrenia.

Labour's Marje Bridle said Conservative Mike Whitby's comments during a debate were "an insult to people who do have these problems".

She said a complaint had been made to the local authority watchdog, the Standards Board of England.

Mr Whitby has said he did not mean to offend people with mental illness.

During a debate, he had accused Ms Bridle of suffering from "schizophrenia, delusion and amnesia".

'Silly schoolboys'

He later said he took exception to her "inability to remember the previous weaknesses of the city council", during her time as a prominent member of the Labour administration.

Ms Bridle said: "I just thought that the Tories and obviously Councillor Whitby had stooped to a new low because all they could do was engage in personal abuse which was completely unnecessary.

"(The Tories} reminded me of a gang of silly schoolboys. Councillor Whitby hasn't got any statesmanship at all.

"I think they have to be shown up for what they are."

The Standards Board for England has said it could not comment on whether a complaint had been made but, if it had, it would take 10 days to carry out an initial assessment.