THE furore over the use by comedian Ricky Gervais of the word ‘mong’ has thrown up a debate about freedom of speech, the development of language and also respect for the sensitivities of others.

Vale of White Horse councillor Julia Bricknell today finds herself under the same scrutiny, after using the word on social network site Twitter.

Gervais argued that the word mong had moved away from its original and quite disgusting description of someone with Down’s Syndrome to take on a more generic meaning about the (perceived) stupidity of an individual.

He’s got every right to use it, but in our view ‘mong’ is a crass and thoughtless word which says more about the person uttering it than its intended target. We still live in a society where freedom of speech is supposedly cherished, so if a Lib Dem councillor wishes to use it then that’s up to her.

But with that freedom comes responsibility and in the case of Miss Bricknell, accountability.

In other words councillor, if you’re going to use words like mong then you’d better be prepared for what follows.

Perhaps it is time for this clearly naive 23-year-old, who claims not to have known the original meaning of the word, to choose between her right to say what she wants on Twitter and the conduct expected of her by those who elected her to office.

Because if she thinks the voters will accept their local councillor calling someone a mong, then she’s in for a big shock at the next election.