Row Breaks Out over Borough of Sanctuary Vote
Opposition accuses Labour of blocking bid to help refugees
Hounslow House where Hounslow Council is based
February 3, 2023
A row has broken out between the political parties on Hounslow Council over making the borough a designated Borough of Sanctuary.
At the council meeting on Tuesday 31 January, Chiswick Homefields Councillor Jack Emsley proposed an amendment that Hounslow should join other councils such as Wandsworth, Lewisham and Southwark in becoming a designated borough of sanctuary for refugees fleeing conflict and violence in their home countries.
City of Sanctuary UK is a charity supporting a network of groups and local authorities across the UK. The charity promotes building a culture of hospitality for refugees, encouraging communities to take pride in offering a place of safety for people whose lives are threatened and celebrating their contribution to towns and cities.
Chiswick Riverside Councillor Amy Croft was the only Labour Councillor to back the amendment, along with all ten Conservative councillors but the amendment was voted down by the other Labour councillors.
Cllr Emsley, said, “Our borough is exceptionally welcoming to those fleeing war and persecution in their own countries, so it would have been a natural fit for us to become the latest UK borough of sanctuary. It’s incredibly sad that so many Labour colleagues voted against Hounslow becoming a UK borough of sanctuary, putting party-politics above good policy. I welcome Amy’s courageous decision to stand up against her own party and vote for this amendment, and hope the local Labour party has a change of heart so that we can pass a similar motion unanimously in the future.”
Cllr Salman Shaheen, speaking on behalf of the Labour Group on the council said, “Hounslow Council made the bold step this week of bringing forward a Migrant Pledge to be a borough that looks outwards with compassion in stark contrast to our government who would have us turn inwards in fear. The Labour motion set out that we uphold the principles of dignity and respect for all by promoting Hounslow’s welcoming response to asylum seekers, refugees and all migrants. It criticised the current government for creating a Hostile Environment which is cruel, divisive, and inefficient and has caused harm to various groups across the country and in our Borough.
“I have to tip my hat to the spinning skills of Jack Emsley, but the Conservative amendment was not about City of Sanctuary. That was a smokescreen - would you believe the Tories are once again using migrants as a political football? I support City of Sanctuary and I would love us to have a further conversation about it to build on the motion we passed this week. The reason my Labour colleagues voted down the Conservative amendment was because it removed all criticism from our motion of government policy. If we're going to set out policy based on compassion and human decency then we have to recognise that it is a Conservative government devoid of both that is leaving vulnerable people to suffer. I note that once we rejected the amendment and left the criticism of the Conservative government in, our local Conservatives voted down the motion to build a compassionate and welcoming borough. I wonder why?”
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