A Sandhurst councillor says a debate was blocked after he was stopped from raising a motion opposing Bracknell Forest Council working towards council of sanctuary status.
John Edwards, an independent who is campaign manager for Reform UK, told the town council his motion had been properly submitted and put on the agenda. Liberal Democrats moved to skip the item and councillors voted to move to the next business under standing orders.
Lib Dem councillor Mike Forster said the motion was irrelevant to the town council's statutory role and could have been raised with a borough councillor or as a resident. He added councillors did not want to discuss Edwards' "pet subject" of migrants, asylum seekers and immigration.
Lib Dem leader Leigh Quigg is understood to have proposed the procedural move, which the mayor, Graham Birch, had to allow under the rules. That decision angered Edwards, who says the standing order was used to suppress a properly submitted motion.
Councillor Dale Birch said some members were confused by the motion's nature but argued the town council can make its feelings known on anything that affects Sandhurst residents.
In a letter to the mayor and executive officer, Edwards described the use of Standing Order 11(a)(vii) as irrational and warned it set a serious precedent, making the right to submit motions "almost meaningless". He pointed to a pro-Afghan resettlement motion debated last year as evidence of inconsistency.
Edwards has asked for an urgent review and for the mayor to call an extraordinary meeting so the motion can be debated "properly, transparently, and in a way that protects the right of elected councillors to raise legitimate matters on behalf of residents".
Ted O'Neill, Local Democracy Reporter
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