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.”
Minutes:
(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.