Promoting respect in politics
Blaby District Councillors have recommitted to upholding the values of fairness and respect in local politics.
At the recent Full Council meeting group leaders, Councillors Ben Taylor (Conservative), Luke Cousin (Liberal Democrats), Nick Brown (Labour) and Tony Deakin (Green), each put their name to a statement continuing support for the Local Government Association’s (LGA) Debate not Hate campaign.
This follows the initial commitment to the initiative last year, backing the LGA’s message around encouraging healthy debate and tackling the abuse of Councillors.
They also acknowledged the tenth anniversary of MP Jo Cox's death and the fifth anniversary of the death of Sir David Amess MP as well as signing the Civility Pledge, a promise to act with honesty, respect and compassion while engaging in politics. The pledge comes from the Jo Cox Foundation in partnership with Compassion in Politics.
These are two organisations advocating for change that increases connection, respect and safety across our communities and politics.
Jo Cox was a humanitarian campaigning Labour MP in Yorkshire who was killed in June 2016 while on her way to a constituency surgery. Sir David Amess was stabbed while meeting with constituents in 2021.
With Jo and Sir David's legacies in mind and concerned about the increasing levels of verbal and physical attacks on local politicians, the LGA published a report on the issue in July 2023.
Then in May 2024 launched a self-assessment toolkit to assist officers in reviewing arrangements in place around the abuse and intimidation of Councillors.
Blaby District Council takes the safety and wellbeing of its Councillors extremely seriously and used this toolkit to assess existing provision and inform a Debate not Hate handbook.
This has sections on lone working, ward surgeries and home visits as well as highlighting a commitment to respect fellow members.
Councillor Ben Taylor, Leader of Blaby District Council, said: "As Jo Cox said in her maiden speech, “the truth is that we have more in common than that which divides us”. Abuse and intimidation should have no place in our politics. We must strive to follow the example of Jo Cox, who embraced working across party divides and modelled high standards of respect and civility in public office.
"Robust debate is essential to our democratic process. An intrinsic part of politics is that people have different views, and there is nothing wrong with that, it encourages healthy discussion.
"However, we should not be crossing the line between debate and hate. Abuse, intimidation and personal attack, whether in person or online can lead to Councillors feeling threatened and unsafe and even feeling they should step down. It also discourages potential future candidates from standing for election. It undermines our whole democratic process and should not be tolerated. As a Council we are proud to support the Debate not Hate campaign and to sign the Civility Pledge."
Councillor Ben Taylor
Leader of the Council