Minutes:
It was moved by Councillor Parker-Leonard, and seconded by Councillor Graham that:
Robust debate and scrutiny are essential aspects of our democratic process; abuse and intimidation shouldn’t have to be. Abuse can make elected representatives feel they need to step down and put potential future candidates off standing altogether – with women, people from a minority ethnic background, and those with disabilities suffering a disproportionate level of this behaviour. As Elected Members we must lead by example. We all have a responsibility to challenge this and have the duty to set the tone when campaigning.
We call upon candidates to take the civility pledge and run a respectful campaign and to reject intimidation in the run-up to general and local elections in the UK and consider sharing the pledge on social media to strengthen the message.
We call upon North Tyneside Council to endorse the recommendations of the Jo Cox Civility Commission recommendations and ask the Elected Mayor and Cabinet to consider signing up on behalf of the Authority to the Civility and respect pledge put forward by the National Association of Local Council, specifically signpost all Elected Members to the Local Governments Associations (LGA) Debate not Hate; and ensure it is included in inductions of Elected Members.
We call upon all Elected Members to read the call to action and endorse the recommendations of the Jo Cox Civility Commission recommendations. We call upon all the leaders of each political party who stands candidates in North Tyneside to read, understand and agree to the key points in the joint statement on conduct of political party members created by the Committee on standards in public life.
An amendment was moved by Councillor Johnsson and seconded by Councillor Bones as follows:
That ‘members of the LGBT+ community’ be inserted into the second sentence after the word ‘background’.
The amended motion therefore read:
Robust debate and scrutiny are essential aspects of our democratic process; abuse and intimidation shouldn’t have to be. Abuse can make elected representatives feel they need to step down and put potential future candidates off standing altogether – with women, people from a minority ethnic background, members of the LGBT+ community and those with disabilities suffering a disproportionate level of this behaviour. As Elected Members we must lead by example. We all have a responsibility to challenge this and have the duty to set the tone when campaigning.
We call upon candidates to take the civility pledge and run a respectful campaign and to reject intimidation in the run-up to general and local elections in the UK and consider sharing the pledge on social media to strengthen the message.
We call upon North Tyneside Council to endorse the recommendations of the Jo Cox Civility Commission recommendations and ask the Elected Mayor and Cabinet to consider signing up on behalf of the Authority to the Civility and respect pledge put forward by the National Association of Local Council, specifically signpost all Elected Members to the Local Governments Associations (LGA) Debate not Hate toolkit; and ensure it is included in inductions of Elected Members.
We call upon all Elected Members to read the call to action and endorse the recommendations of the Jo Cox Civility Commission recommendations.
We call upon all the leaders of each political party who stands candidates in North Tyneside to read, understand and agree to the key points in the joint statement on conduct of political party members created by the Committee on standards in public life.
A named vote on the amendment was requested by two members present.
Votes for the amendment:
Councillors L Bartoli, L Bones, B Burdis, K Clark, D Cox, S Cox, N Craven, J Cruddas, E Darke, C Davis, S Day, D Drummond, P Earley, M Fox, S Graham. I Grayson, M Hall, T Hallway, J Harrison, Janet Hunter, V Jamieson, C Johnson, H Johnson, J Johnsson, C Johnston, J Kirwan, F Lott, W Lott, L Marshall, I McAlpine, P McIntyre, A McMullen, J Montague, J Mudzingwa, T Mulvenna, M Murphy, T Neira, A Newman, P Oliver, R O’Keefe, J O'Shea, S Phillips, E Parker-Leonard, B Pickard, N Redfearn, W Samuel, O Scargill, J Shaw, A Spowart, M Thirlaway, J Walker, J Wallace, M Wilson.
The amendment was approved unanimously.
A named vote on the substantive motion was requested by two members present.
Votes for the substantive motion:
Councillors L Bartoli, L Bones, B Burdis, K Clark, D Cox, S Cox, N Craven, J Cruddas, E Darke, C Davis, S Day, D Drummond, P Earley, M Fox, S Graham. I Grayson, M Hall, T Hallway, J Harrison, Janet Hunter, V Jamieson, C Johnson, H Johnson, J Johnsson, C Johnston, J Kirwan, F Lott, W Lott, L Marshall, I McAlpine, P McIntyre, A McMullen, J Montague, J Mudzingwa, T Mulvenna, M Murphy, T Neira, A Newman, P Oliver, R O’Keefe, J O'Shea, S Phillips, E Parker-Leonard, B Pickard, N Redfearn, W Samuel, O Scargill, J Shaw, A Spowart, M Thirlaway, J Walker, J Wallace, M Wilson.
The substantive motion was approved unanimously.
(Councillor Carl Johnson requested a five-minute break, and this was agreed by the Chair.)