A councillor has made a call for Bracknell Forest Council to commit to protecting free speech in the wake of questions over immigration policies.
There has been controversy in the area after Sandhurst Town councillor John Edwards was the subject of a code of conduct investigation over accusations he has been ‘stirring up racial hatred’.
The investigation began after cllr Edwards made appearances on national TV questioning the council’s involvement in the resettlement of people from Afghanistan in the country.
It is widely known that The Grange Hotel in Bracknell town centre is being used as ‘transitional accommodation’ to help rehome people who have legally fled Afghanistan throughout the UK.
In the summer, councillors passed a motion binding it to create a community cohesion strategy, tackle hate crime and build trust.
Now, opposition councillor John Harrison (Conservative, Binfield North and Warfield West) is set to introduce a motion committing the council to free speech and opposition to “vexatious complaints”.
The motion states: “Recent instances across the UK where local authorities have restricted lawful speech or penalised individuals for beliefs, including investigations into councillors for controversial but legal expressions, cancellations of events deemed offensive, and the use of vague conduct codes to silence dissent.”
There has recently been a case where Sarah Holman a former council employee, chose to leave after making a Human Resources complaint about the conversion of single-gender toilets into unisex toilets at the council offices.
The council clarified that single-gender facilities are available for staff members – but not the public – at the offices in Times Square.
Cllr Harrison’s motion also states: “Nobody should be subject to malicious or vexatious complaints to the police for lawfully questioning the handling of immigration dispersal, as such actions undermine democratic discourse and the ability of elected representatives and residents to engage in legitimate policy debates.”
This part of the motion references a post on Facebook stating cllr Edwards had been reported to police and anti-terrorist programmes for his public statements.
If passed, the motion would commit the council to review and amend its code of conduct policies to explicitly uphold the right to free speech and freedom of conscience, limit sanctions to cases of clear legal breaches, “decline to take part in political indoctrination”, and work with external organisations to ensure revised policies are compliant.
Finally, it calls on the council to oppose any national code of conduct rules that could undermine free speech.
The motion is due to be introduced at the full council meeting on Wednesday, September 10.
It will be seconded by cllr Dr Gareth Barnard (Conservative, Whitegrove).
