Agenda item

In accordance with the Notice of Motion received under Section 4.20 of the Constitution, Councillor Dyfed Edwards will propose as follows:-

 

“Following the recent Referendum on membership of the European Union we as a Council note that the people of Gwynedd voted clearly to remain members of the EU despite the fact that Wales and the rest of the British isles voted against. Following this result, we as a Council state again that we are proud to live in a diverse and tolerant society.
 

Racism, xenophobia and hate crimes have no place in Gwynedd. As a Council, we condemn racism, xenophobia and hate crimes and we will not allow hate to become acceptable.

 

We will work to ensure that local organisations and schemes receive the assistance they require to fight against and prevent racism and xenophobia. We also give assurances to everyone living in this area that they are valued members of our society.”

 

(b)     Submitted - the following notice of motion by Councillor Dyfed Edwards, in accordance with Section 4.20 of the Constitution and it was seconded:-

 

"Following the recent Referendum on membership of the European Union we as a Council note that the people of Gwynedd voted clearly to remain members of the EU despite the fact that Wales and the rest of the British Isles voted against.  Following this result, we as a Council state again that we are proud to live in a diverse and tolerant society.

 

Racism, xenophobia and hate crimes have no place in Gwynedd. As a Council, we condemn racism, xenophobia and hate crimes and we will not allow hate to become acceptable.

 

We will work to ensure that local organisations and schemes receive the assistance they require to fight against and prevent racism and xenophobia. We also give assurances to everyone living in this area that they are valued members of our society." 

 

A registered vote was called for but was not supported by a quarter of the members present.

 

During the discussion:-

 

·         A recent article in the press was referred to which featured the daylight attack on a woman at a supermarket car park in Bangor.  It was emphasised that this Council condemned any kind of xenophobia or crimes against those people whom we 'welcome into our community, and a call was made to lend every possible support' to local agencies and third sector organisations who were helping refugees.

·         It was noted that the proposal suggested that everyone who voted to leave the European Union was guilty of racism, xenophobia and hate crime.  To the contrary, it was noted that this motion drew attention to the fact that some people had interpreted the result of the vote as a means of expressing racist views.

 

It was proposed and seconded that an improvement to amend the motion by deleting the first part referring to the result of the vote and beginning with the wording "We restate".

 

The proposer of the original motion noted that the referendum and the vote to leave had led to attacks on people who had moved in or who were of different racial backgrounds, since some people had assumed that they now had the right to be racist, whereas before, they were not.  The motion stated that the result of the referendum in Gwynedd found in favour of remaining members of the communities of Gwynedd, Wales and Europe, and hoped that the majority interpreted the motion in this way.

 

A vote was taken on the amendment and it fell.

 

Reference was made to two factual errors in the proposal, namely:-

 

·         'British Isles' in the English version - it was noted that this must be corrected to read UK as the British Isles included the Republic of Ireland.

·         That it was not true to say that the rest of the countries of Britain had voted in favour of leaving the European Union as Scotland and Northern Ireland had voted to remain.

 

It was proposed and seconded that a further improvement be made to begin the motion with the following sentence:-

 

"Whilst Gwynedd Council acknowledges and respects the result of the referendum on Europe, we share the concern that a small minority of people have taken this opportunity to express racist standpoints during the discussions. We once more declare..."

 

A vote was taken on the amendment and it fell.

 

A vote was taken on the original proposal (with the corrections noted) and it was carried. 

 

RESOLVED - following the recent Referendum on membership of the European Union we as a Council note that the people of Gwynedd voted clearly to remain members of the EU despite the fact that Wales and that some parts of the United Kingdom had voted against.  In light of this result, we as a Council state again that we are proud to live in a diverse and tolerant society.

 

Racism, xenophobia and hate crimes have no place in Gwynedd. We as a Council condemn racism, xenophobia and hate crimes and we will not allow hate to become acceptable.

 

We will work to ensure that local organisations and schemes receive the assistance they require to fight against and prevent racism and xenophobia. We also give assurances to everyone living in this area that they are valued members of our society.