Nicholas Dobson says a recent court decision which ruled there is no breach of code if a councillor engages in sarcastic, lampooning or disrespectful comments does not give members a greenlight to abuse.

As English local authorities come to terms with the new, slimmed-down and localised conduct regime in the Localism Act 2011, they may be interested to know what the High Court recently made of tension between the Welsh code of member conduct and the right to freedom of expression in Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights.