To consider any Notices of Motion.

Group Leaders Councillors: RJ Phillips (Conservative), RI Matthews (Independents), TM James (Liberal Democrats), ACR Chappell (Labour), and GFM Dawe (Alliance) submitted the following notice of motion as a matter of urgency.

“That this Council applauds the ‘No Prejudice in Herefordshire’ campaign and calls for all practical steps to be taken to promote its message as widely as possible.

The Council believes that the great majority of Herefordshire people wish to live in peaceful and harmonious communities.  We deplore all attempts to foster bigotry and prejudice within the county and condemn those who seek to exploit human tragedies for political ends.

As democratically elected representatives from various diverse political traditions, we believe that it will be a terrible prospect if those pursuing politics based on racial and ethnic hatred were to gain any foothold in the region.

We recommend that our communications and diversity staff promote this motion across our county.”

The Chairman will rule whether the motion is urgent.

The Chairman introduced this item by informing Members that as Chairman he had been pleased to attend an event in High Town during Easter arranged by the Youth Council and Children’s Trust Shadow Board which publicised the ‘No prejudice in HEREfordshire’ campaign.  He also thanked the members of the Youth Council and Children’s Trust Shadow Board for being in attendance to hear this important issue being debated at Council.

The Chairman ruled the notice of motion as outlined in the agenda be treated as urgent. 

Councillor ACR Chappell, Leader of the Labour Group advised Members that the notice of motion had been supported and signed by all the Group Leaders.  The motion was seconded by Councillor JP French Cabinet Member Corporate and Customer Services and Human Resources. 

Councillor ACR Chappell stated that this was an important notice of motion for consideration by Council, though in effect it should not be an issue for debate.  Members were advised that the purpose of bigotry and racism was to destroy harmonious communities and to spread poison, and this point was illustrated by reference to explicit racist language used by a 7 year old child in a playground, the presumption being that such words had been picked as a result of language used by the child’s parents.

Councillor Chappell emphasised that not all individuals held prejudicial views and commended the young people for leading the campaign for No Prejudice in HEREfordshire.

In debunking myths, Councillor Chappell emphasised that no one received preferential treatment from social landlords, jobs were given on merit, and only those entitled to receive benefits were provided with such support.  It was also highlighted that majority of crime in Herefordshire was committed by Herefordians.

Concerns had been expressed to Councillor Chappell from staff of the Hereford Times following a directive from their parent company Newsquest regarding the placing of an advert in the Hereford Times which called for ‘British jobs for British workers’.  It was emphasised that the local staff knew their locality well and a letter was read out from a Hereford Times employee who outlined examples of the horrors of prejudice which he had witnessed when younger.

Councillor Chappell stated that Herefordshire had a long history of welcoming those of different cultures, politics, religion and creed, which included the Marion Fathers, Poles (before and after the second world war), Hungarians during the 18^th century, Italians prisoners of war and people from Southern Asia.  It was with shame that Councillor Chappell informed Members that whilst a building in the South Wye area was being used as a mosque, he had been asked not to disclose its location from fear of reprisals.  All people, be they friends, neighbours, work colleagues deserved equal courtesy and respect.

Herefordshire Council was taking a lead in this initiative and Councillor Chappell congratulated the young people and Council staff for the way the campaign has been organised, he additionally commended the Cabinet Member for her support.

Councillor Chappell sated that Members had responsibility to serve all people within their wards, whatever their colour or creed and it was important to emphasise the no prejudice message at all times.  It was stated that Herefordshire was strong enough not only to respect differences but also to challenge prejudice by standing up and speaking out against it.

Councillor Chappell recounted a deeply personal story of his time in Chile in the late 1960’s when racism was rife and when, during political turmoil many were killed, including a close friend.

The words of Pastor Niemöller, a German pastor were shared with the Council to illustrate the point:

‘They came first for the Communists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist;

And then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist;

And then they came for the Jews, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew;

And then... they came for me... And by that time there was no one left to speak up’

The Leader thanked Councillor Chappell for his contribution and commended the Youth Council and Children’s Trust Shadow Board for leading and raising the campaign and stated that Members needed to ensure that prejudice of all kinds was challenged.  He stated that there was at times a negative perception of rural areas and that rural people experienced prejudice on occasion as they were a minority in what was an urban society and culture.  It was important to have freedom from fear, and whilst most people took this for granted, some people in Herefordshire originated from countries where democracy as we know it did not exist.  Others even within their own society were the victims of prejudice and bullying.  It was vital that such issues were challenged and exposed.  It was additionally acknowledged that there were at times community tensions in the county between new and established residents.

Councillor RI Matthews, Independent Group Leader informed Council that he was pleased to support the notice of motion and commended the way that such a sensitive, yet important issue had placed in the public arena.  He stated that he was proud of the way the county had received and accepted people of differing backgrounds to the area.

Councillor TM James, Leader of the Liberal Democrats advised Members of his support for the notice of motion and stated that whilst it may be considered an obvious issue to champion it was necessary to articulate and promote a no prejudice message and act on it.  The work of the Youth Council and Children’s Trust Shadow Board was also acknowledged and he called on all elected members to provide their full support to the initiative.

Councillor GFM Dawe, Leader of the Alliance Group supported the notice of motion and endorsed the comments made.

As Cabinet Member Corporate and Customer Services and Human Resources, Councillor JP French formally seconded the motion and stated that it had been important for the young people to launch the No Prejudice in HEREfordshire campaign and commended their work and that of the Diversity and Equality team.  Prejudice could not be left for young people to tackle on their own and the issue should be high on the agenda for all, as prejudice was wider than that of colour or religion.  Other individuals and groups were prejudiced against due to disability or due to the fact that they had relocated from outside the county and made Herefordshire their home. 

The Cabinet Member stated that in going forward, the No Prejudice campaign would have professional PR support and an action plan.  Members were asked to support the campaign wherever possible and for positive messages to be conveyed by them as community leaders at all opportunities e.g. parish council and community meetings.  A specific request was made to those Members who were school governors to bring the campaign to schools attention.  It was emphasised that it was also a duty upon Members to challenge any inappropriate prejudicial actions or language.

Councillor J Hyde, Cabinet Member Children's Services commended the young people for the recent play performed in High Town on diversity which was very thought provoking.  The performance demonstrated the best of the young people and the support provided by Youth and Diversity Teams.

Councillor AM Toon advised Members of her ethnic background and emphasised the importance of ensuring fairness of access to education, politics and the need to embrace diversity.  The work of SACRE was applauded and Councillor Toon paid tribute to the Chairman’s work in his position as Chairman of SACRE.

The Chairman advised Members that as part of SACRE’s work programme over 20 multi faith events had taken place in Homer School, which was also being made available for secondary schools.  It was confirmed that the no prejudice campaign was high on SACRE’s agenda.  Councillors WU Attfield and Brig. P Jones were thanked for their continuing and steadfast support as members of SACRE.

The notice of motion was carried unanimously