Agenda item

To consider the following motion submitted by Councillor S Sheahan:

This Council notes the latest promise of £150,000 from the Government to assist with our EU exit preparations as a port area. This comes in addition to sums totalling £180,000 already allocated.

However, this Council does not believe this money will adequately mitigate the effects of a no-deal Brexit which the Government claims it is 'turbo-charging' its preparations for.

Evidence indicates the outcome of a no-deal Brexit would be costly and damaging and we are particularly concerned about the impact on vulnerable residents and smaller businesses within our District.

We further note that there is no majority for a no-deal Brexit either in Parliament or amongst the wider electorate.

We therefore deplore the Prime Minister's anti-democratic attempt to frustrate the will of Parliament by suspending it, thereby increasing the chances of Brexit occurring with no deal in place.

This Council resolves to make its views known by writing to our local MP, and urging him not to support actions which will lead to a damaging no-deal Brexit.

Councillor Sheahan moved the motion as set out on the agenda and presented it to members.

He advised that it was apparent to him that the Prime Minister was attempting to push through a ‘no deal’ Brexit and thus followed another imperative to block this which had resulted in the Prime Minister attempting to side step Parliament. It would seem that he is putting his own interests ahead of those of the public and this motion attempts to address this.

Councillor Everitt seconded the motion and reserved his comments.

The Chairman welcomed comments from the floor.

Councillor Ashman felt the motion was politically motivated by Party headquarters.  However, despite the squabbling within the walls of Parliament he felt that writing a letter to the MP was not the way forward as it would only reflect the views of a small number of councillors in this Chamber. Instead he felt they should be focussing on the job that local councillors have been elected to do in preparing for Brexit whether it be ‘deal’ or ‘no deal’ and that is what they have been doing with regular updates to DHCLG.

Councillor Ashman reported that he was satisfied that the Council had sufficient resources and robust plans and rather than run a localised ‘project fear’ they are taking all the necessary steps to reduce the impact of leaving on the people of North West Leicestershire.

Councillor Eynon supported the motion and expressed concern on the possible risks associated with necessary medical supplies not being readily available.

Councillor Wyatt did not support the motion and echoed the comments in relation to ‘project fear’. He advised that the people of North West Leicestershire voted to leave the EU and we should respect their views.

Councillor Merrie supported the views of Councillor Wyatt and did not support the motion and Councillor Legrys, whilst supporting the motion he congratulated the work currently being done by officers in the event of a ‘no deal’ Brexit but he did express his despair that we are at this impasse through no fault of our own.

Councillor Benfield supported the views of Councillor Ashman in that we should vote on and support the best interests of the people of North West Leicestershire, however he considered the best interests of those people is not to surge into a ‘no deal’ Brexit and he fully supported the motion.

Councillor Everitt spoke very passionately about his support of the motion and his support to the European Union. He considered that most people just want a resolution to this mess and we need to be in a position where we can at least say we did our best for the people. 

Councillor Sheahan exercised his right to reply and responded to the comments made by members.

Councillor Sheahan stated that this was not ‘project fear’ but ‘project reality’ and regardless of whether we voted leave or remain, we should all be voting against ‘no deal’ Brexit.

The Chairman then put the following motion to the vote. 

“This Council notes the latest promise of £150,000 from the Government to assist with our EU exit preparations as a port area. This comes in addition to sums totalling £180,000 already allocated. However, this Council does not believe this money will adequately mitigate the effects of a no-deal Brexit which the Government claims it is 'turbo-charging' its preparations for. Evidence indicates the outcome of a no-deal Brexit would be costly and damaging and we are particularly concerned about the impact on vulnerable residents and smaller businesses within our District. We further note that there is no majority for a no-deal Brexit either in Parliament or amongst the wider electorate. We therefore deplore the Prime Minister's anti-democratic attempt to frustrate the will of Parliament by suspending it, thereby increasing the chances of Brexit occurring with no deal in place. This Council resolves to make its views known by writing to the local MP and urging him not to support actions which will lead to a damaging no-deal Brexit”.

A recorded vote was requested, the outcome of which was as follows.

The motion was LOST.