Shayne Pooley, Tory councillor for Gainsborough is backing Putin in Ukraine.

Labour comment from Cllr Alasdair Ross, a retired soldier who has served with NATO forces:

Yesterday was a dark day for Europe, for democracy, and for the values we hold so dearly in the West.

While the rest of the continent looked on in horror and stood in solidarity with the Ukrainian people, we saw a Conservative Councillor here in Ipswich making excuses for Putin and his assault on the people of Ukraine.

To suggest that Putin is somehow liberating Ukraine, a sovereign country whose people deserve the basic right to self-determination is nothing short of a disgrace and puts a stain on the Conservative Party’s name.

We are clear in the Labour Party that there is no space for anyone who defends Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and we are calling on Ipswich Conservatives to make it clear that they condemn these dangerous comments by one of their Councillors.