Council Motion: Surrey needs to listen to residents and repair divisions

Jonathan Essex, County Councillor for Redhill East, will move a Motion at the Surrey County Council meeting on 12 July, inviting the Council to respond to the challenges posed by the result of the recent EU referendum.

The text of the Motion is as follows:

This Council notes that whilst Surrey voted 52 – 48% to remain in the European Union, the UK as a whole voted the opposite way. We respect the fact that five of Surrey’s eleven districts voted to leave, with six to remain and that the younger generation voted far more heavily to remain.

This Council believes that following this referendum, there is a need for a listening exercise to repair the divisions, and with tolerance and respect, to try to re-unite the people of Surrey.

Therefore this Council resolves to:

• explore ways of bridging divisions in our communities, through intergenerational dialogue and increased understanding.
• seek reassurance from the Government that the four-year funding deal offer to local government is ring-fenced from any future budget changes following this referendum vote.
• ask the Government to take steps to ensure that staff and students from EU countries can continue to work and study at our three universities, Surrey, Royal Holloway College and the University of the Creative Arts.
• work with all the boroughs and districts to ensure that no racist or xenophobic behaviour is tolerated.

Read more

• See the meeting agenda on the Surrey County Council website
• Read a comment on the referendum outcome on the local Green Party website
• Come to a meeting to discuss what role the Greens can play in post-Brexit Britain