Green Party Press Release On Councillor Walk Out From Kent County Council Migration Emergency Debate

Yesterday was an incredibly frustrating experience for opposition members at County Hall and for anyone who just wants to see councillors doing their best for their communities. Instead, debate on important issues was stifled, and legitimate responses to the statements by the Leader of the Council were cut short by the Reform Chairman, who seemed to be taking instructions from the Reform Whip throughout.

In farcical scenes at County Hall, the response to the Leader of the County Council by the Leader of the Green Group was interrupted and then halted by the Chairman.

As Cllr Mark Hood was prevented from responding in full, the text of his full response is below.

“Our group would like to extend our condolences to the family and friends of the two young people who have died as a result of the meningitis outbreak centred around the Chemistry Nightclub and we urge anyone attending on the nights of 5th, 6th and 7th March to obtain the necessary antibiotics and pass on our thanks to everyone who has been involved in the response to the situation.

Nothing is more important than protecting our people from harm, and that is what all members should be here to ensure. Instead, we have an administration which is intent on diverting attention away from its reckless budget and its record of failing to expel members who have admitted controlling and coercive behaviour until imprisonment has finally relieved this place of their shadow.

Now in a shameful game of ‘look over there’, we have a motion which seeks to play on people’s legitimate concerns by presenting a litany of lies to attempt to portray our county as a land overwhelmed by irregular migration, when the truth is that Kent has a significantly lower number of asylum seekers than most other counties, that is the inconvenient truth.

At our last meeting, two members were branded Mills and Boon, looking at the Immigration Emergency Motion, we have our very own Brothers Grimm, creators of a nightmarish fantasy motion far removed from reality. We don’t need political posturing; we need you to address the £750m worth of outstanding works required to bring our roads up to the necessary standard, and a programme of maintenance to address the £135m of necessary works to keep our buildings dry, safe, and warm and open. This administration is one of managed decline.

The problem is that the party opposite are one trick ponies; their stock in trade is division and they have nothing to offer beyond the pretence that the UK is being taken over by ‘others’.

What we will see later today is the catastrophising of immigration, which is a direct consequence of Brexit, which members of the opposite party have inflicted upon this nation. The current situation is the direct result of the Brexit delivered by incumbents like Suella Braverman and Robert Jenrick, who are responsible respectively for the record for the largest number of immigration claims awaiting a decision at three quarters of a million claims and the creation of the asylum hotels, which Jenrick now rails against so vociferously despite being their architect. If the asylum system and country are indeed broken, why are the majority group’s party welcoming the ones who broke it with open arms?”

Democracy was sacrificed today at Kent County Council so that Reform UK could make political capital by introducing an illegal motion during the pre-election period running up to the Cliftonville by-election.

The Green Group were pleased to have the agreement of the whole of the opposition to leave once it was apparent that the whole council meeting today was being stage-managed.

The decision to walk out was one which was not taken lightly, but it was clear that the whole business was a political stunt.

You can watch the video of Mark Hood speaking on this below:

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