An armed forces champion has urged Hadleigh councillors to keep to its pledge after signing a covenant to not disadvantage former service personnel.

The move comes after councillor Carol Schleip, who admitted to being prejudiced against ex-services personnel was appointed to the town council's staffing sub committee. Full story here.

Cllr Schleip said during the interview process for the £48,000 a year town council manager post, that she had a prejudice against ex servicemen, given her experience while working for Tendring council.

The council refused to hold an investigation, despite being advised it had the power to do so, and even though the staffing committee was disbanded in March, it has now been reinstated with many of the same members sitting on the group, including Cllr Schleip, the chair Rolf Beggerow and Gavin Talbot, who missed parts of the interview process to take delivery of a household appliance, yet still voted.

Cllr Fraser did not condemn the reappointment but made it clear councillors had now signed the Armed Forces Covenant, following a request to council for them to do so from Nub News, and had a responsibility to adhere to its pledges.

Mick Fraser, who is both a Suffolk county and Babergh district councillor for Hadleigh, said: "As Suffolk's Armed Forces Champion for their Armed Forces Covenant Board, I understand the incredible sacrifice servicemen and servicewomen make for their country and the tremendous contribution they can make in the community after their service.

"The covenant is a clear statement of support for the armed forces and I would urge everyone to respect both the letter and the spirit of its contents.

"I was delighted when Hadleigh Town Council signed up to the covenant, but without knowing all the background and details relating to the specifics of this issue, it would be inappropriate for me to pass any comment about the council or any of its members at this time.

"However, I would remind Hadleigh Town Council that the principle commitment of the covenant is that the armed forces community should not face disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public and commercial services."

Despite her admitted discriminatory views, Cllr Schleip put herself forward as one of the five councillors to sit on the staffing sub committee, and as there were no other options, she was accepted along with the only other candidates.

Mayor Frank Minns, who used his casting vote to deny an investigation into the behaviour of the staffing subcommittee when appointing Cheryl Tye as town manger, while rejecting a highly rated former soldier, defended the latest appointments and insisted the council had a good relationship with the armed forces - past and present.

Former Royal Navy commander Minns said: "We sought five councillors to form the new membership of the staffing sub committee, and five councillors proposed themselves.

"Every councillor has an equal right to stand. Had there been more candidates than places, then there would have been a vote on the individual nominations, and the councillor(s) with the fewest votes would have been eliminated. But there were not, and the council voted to accept the nomination of the five who had proposed themselves.

"All the councillors elected to the subcommittee either already have excellent qualifications in personnel or employment law matters, or are committed under the subcommittee's terms of reference to completing a substantial course of training."

Cllr Minns added that the town council has two employees who are retired members of the armed forces, along with two councillors (including himself) and said: "This commitment to veterans has already been recognised by the armed forces covenant, and we will be working to move to the next level of recognition over the next few months."

This year's Armed Forces Day, will be hosted by Haleigh after Babergh once again worked closely with Wattisham Flying Station, the town's Royal British Legion branch and the town council, following the cancellation of last year's event.

(Hadleigh residents urged to back armed forces day - full story here...)