Former Plaid Cymru council leader Lindsay Whittle revealed he was threatened by a person following the European Union referendum, as councillors united to pass a motion condemning the reported rise in hate crime.
Cllr Whittle campaigned for the UK to remain in the EU and the Saturday after the result was confronted by a person in his garden erecting a Vote Leave sign.
Cllr Whittle said the person was “screaming” at him “that there was no need for people like me to exist” and that following the death of Labour MP Jo Cox, he contacted the police, taking the person’s actions as a threat.
The motion, proposed by Labour councillor Roy Saralis and supported by Labour’s Nigel Dix and Plaid’s James Fussell, read: “We are proud to live in a diverse and tolerant society. Racism, xenophobia and hate crimes have no place in our country. Our council condemns racism, xenophobia and hate crimes unequivocally. We will not allow hate to become acceptable.
“We will work to ensure that local bodies and programmes have the support and resources they need to fight and prevent racism and xenophobia.”
A version of this motion was also put before Caerffili Town Council and I pointed out that the wording committed councillors to funding and supporting un-named groups which might apply for support, financial or otherwise in future. I wrote an amendment which is set out below, in full.
“We, in Caerffili, are proud to live in a diverse and tolerant society. Racism and xenophobia are unacceptable and will not be tolerated. Caerffili Town Council condemns racist or xenophobic speech including that directed at our English neighbours.
Caerffili Town Council also condemns attacks, whether verbal or physical, on grounds of gender or sexual orientation, even under the pretext of religious or cultural beliefs.
We reassure all people living in the council area, of whatever race, gender, sexual orientation or religion that they are valued members of our community and will be treated equally in accordance with the laws of the land.”
I think this is a stronger, better message than the the motion put forward. The amendment was voted down by Plaid members of the Town Council.
I am sorry that Lindsay has suffered abuse, I have known him all my life and respect him as a very good councillor and a decent, upstanding member of our community. I think he is wrong in this case to connect this abuse in any way to the campaign to leave the EU. I have been called ‘scum’ and other things by people who claim to be Plaid Cymru and Labour supporters, both on the street and in comments to this paper, because I exercised my democratic right to campaign to leave the EU. I am sure that this was nothing to do with the ‘Remain’ campaign but shows that any high profile political event attracts unpleasant characters who do not share the respect for democracy that the British are rightly famous for.
Cllr Williams, why was your your amended motion not approved by Caerphilly Town Council? It would not have had anything to do with the Plaid councilors objecting to the mention of xenophobia towards our English neighbours would it? I have had conversations with a couple of Plaid activists where I have been told that I am not Welsh enough for their liking even with my having a Welsh mother. It must have been the Scots father that was the problem.
Yes. I think it was partly because of the mention of the English and partly because this amendment was not from the controlling party. At least I was sucessful in removing the most foolish paragraph from this motion which attempted to commit the council to the support of organisations, as yet unknown, in the future.
With regards to your ethnicity, despite your having a Welsh mother and having lived a large chunk of your life in Wales, the fact that you have a transatlantic accent derived from your work in the USA will always mark you out as ‘different’ to the bigots.
There seems to be a fine line between “hate speech ” and differences in opinions. Fair criticism and honest debate cannot and should not be condemned with the taint of social stigma.
I’ve had a few conversations with the remain camp supporters that turned uncomfortable and each time I was surprised by the emotions that seemed to lead their arguments. At no point did I consider making a complaint of harassment because they disagreed with me. I’m not saying that is what happened in this case I am just pointing out that there is a fine line between engaging in healthy debate and abusing already oppressive laws that are anathema too free speech.