Ido not wish to add to the embarrassment of the urban councillor who supposed it was not necessary to declare his extensive interests in the food and booze business because they were already known to 'everybody'.
No doubt this is an easy mistake for an inexperienced councillor to make. He will know better next time.
Floating about in this gentleman's defence of his conduct, though, was one mark which raised wider issues. The whole fuss, opined the errant councillor, was only a result of complaints by colleagues of a more democratic disposition who objected in principle to appointees, of whom he was one.
The point which needs to be made as firmly as possible is that this may or may not be true, but it is simply not relevant.
If councillors are required to declare their interests, or for that matter if company chairmen are required to declare their previous convictions, or if applicants for teaching posts are asked to list their qualifications, then it is the responsibility of the person concerned to do so accurately.
If an accurate account is not provided then that is a clear breach of the rules.