At Wednesday’s Isle of Wight council meeting the Conservative Leader, Dave Stewart, was accused by opposition councillors of politicising the local authority’s response to the Coronavirus (Covid-19) crisis.
Cllr Stewart was referred to as “conceited, vain and rude”, “supercilious” and accused of insulting the Island’s community who have heroically pulled together as the pandemic hit the Island.
Endorsement for administration rather than Island community
The outrage was in response to a motion Cllr Stewart put forward, which endorsed the administration’s approach to Covid-19 – rather than everyone on the Island who has had a hand in responding to the crisis – and for referring to the Conservatives in his introduction.
Opposition councillors said the use of the word ‘administration’ (ie. the ruling party, the Island Conservatives) rather than referring to the Island Community (which it was later changed to) was insulting and politicised the efforts.
Cllr Stewart’s motion read:
Motion: That Council endorses the approach taken by the administration in response to Coronavirus and approves development of a Recovery Plan that looks to re-build the economy of the Island and at the same time ensures the continued protection of the Island Community
Mosdell: Staff have literally saved lives
Cllr Clare Mosdell seconded the motion and went on to praise the huge efforts of staff who have “literally saved lives”.
She explained how the council had helped homeless Islanders since the start of the outbreak, providing temporary accommodation, as well as mental health support. How no ‘looked after’ child was in Bed and Breakfast accommodation throughout the pandemic and how unprecedented PPE was delivered to care providers, free of charge.
A whopping 27 community hubs have been established across the Island, with 100s of volunteers stepping up to help their communities.
Cllr Mosdell concluded,
“I am proud, humble and inspired by how the needs of vulnerable people during Covid-19 have been prioritised and met.”
Peacey Wilcox: “Conceited, vain and quite frankly, rude”
Cllr Lora Peacey Wilcox (Ind) said
“Thank goodness for Cllr Mosdell who has fully acknowledged the staff
“In this motion the wording of Cllr Stewart is conceited, vain and quite frankly, rude to say it was administration that just took this approach, it wasn’t just the administration, it was awful lot of other people as Cllr Mosdell said and he needs to rethink that wording.
“It’s an absolute insult to think it was just ‘the administration’ and that should be taken out.
“The Island suffered and we all pulled together and to say the administration, I just think it’s conceited, vain and rude.”
Fuller: “I find the resolution is a little bit supercilious”
Cllr Paul Fuller (Ind) added,
“We’ve had so many people pulling together, our officers have really pushed this very hard, we need a resolution that thanks officers for the effort they have put in.
“In addition we’ve had keyworkers, volunteers, educational providers, healthcare providers, waste crews and our town and parish councils. The leader asked asked them to step up to the plate, the leader asked us to step up to the plate and I find the resolution is a little bit supercilious.
“I feel the motion should be much more inclusive of everyone that has been involved and not just the administration. I cannot support the wording of the motion. I think it should be changed to be much more inclusive of everyone involved.
“I feel quite insulted by some of the wording and I would like it to be changed because I feel slightly offended by that the wording that says ‘the administration’ has done everything they possibly can. We’ve all been involved in this and I would like to see that being much more inclusive.”
Andre: “Withdraw the motion”
Cllr Debbie Andre (Island Ind) asked for the motion to be withdrawn as it does not recognise the efforts of many – something that had been acknowledged in the Leader’s earlier report but which members of the public might not see.
Cllr Michael Lilley (Ind Green) concurred with previous speakers and said the motion’s wording must state that the recovery has been done ‘together’, and not by the administration in isolation.
Jones Evans: “Haven’t handled the recovery well”
Cllr Jones Evans (Ind) expressed her dissatisfaction with how the council have handled the recovery plan.
She was unhappy there hasn’t been more space in the Island’s towns for walking and cycling. She’d been told by residents that the markings on the pavements are telling them ‘not to come here’, that the red and white signs are very scary. She believes they are detrimental to the recovery of town centres. She said,
“It’s actually more damaging than you can realise. I believe we’ve spent £120,000 on creating this. It’s quite shocking.”
She explained that she’d approached the Conservative Cabinet on 7th May with many ideas, but “it fell on deaf ears”.
Garratt: “Quite clearly further work is needed by this administration”
Cllr Andrew Garratt (LibDem) said that if these were just words spoken out loud by the leader of the council, “we could probably accuse him of mis-speaking, intending to say the word ‘authority’ rather than ‘administration’, because it is the authority that is responding in a large part”.
He said that every single person on this Island should be recognised in one way or another. Adding,
“It’s not something the leader of the council should have forgotten because line item 43 in recovery plan paper published six weeks ago stated: Further work is needed to recognise the efforts of the community in responding to the pandemic.
“Quite clearly further work is needed by this administration.”
Garratt: Suggested different wording earlier in the day
He went on to add that he’d hoped the Leader had picked up his voicemail from earlier in the day when he suggested the change of working from administration to authority thereby picking up much wider support.
He deprecated the leader for saying the name of his political party in his opening speech about the motion, and went on to remind members that we are still the in the middle of a pandemic, this is not the time for political parties to claim any credit.
Other councillors concur
Cllr Reg Barry (LibDem) and Cllr Rodney Downer (Island Ind) both also asked for the wording to be changed.
Cllr Karl Love (Ind) said the motion had good intentions, but had lost its way. He said he reserved support for the motion until after a period scrutiny and suggested it be deferred.
Brodie: Should be about the Island Community
Cllr Geoff Brodie (Ind Lab) proposed an amendment to the motion – he asked for the ‘administration’ to be replaced with ‘Island Community’.
“The motion should be about the Island community and I can’t imagine anyone on the council opposing”.
It was seconded by Cllr Lilley.
Brodie: Leader has wound everybody up
Cllr Brodie said Cllr Mosdell was one of the sensible members of this administration (inc Cllr Price) and should write the motions in future
He said,
“Cllr Stewart as the Leader has wound up everybody. If it went through as it is, there would be disgust within the community. I hope Cllr Stewart can accept the amendment and call for a named vote.”
Leader: “I for one have made a pioneering effort”
Cllr Stewart said he was comfortable accepting the amendment.
“I for one have made a pioneering effort to keep our community together and yes, we are the lead authority, but there are so many unsung heroes.”
He finished by saying,
“If members, and this will be a test of our trueness across the council now. So I am happy to accept the amendment of Island Community and would be interested in the named vote to see if my colleagues, who are not all of our political persuasion can be as humble themselves.”
Cllr Mosdell also accepted the amendment (as she had seconded the original motion).
Peace: No coordinated effort across the Island without leadership
Despite councillors berating the leadership for politicising the motion, Cllr Gary Peace (Con) went on to pour glory on the Conservative group, saying,
“It is important to point out that the administration has shown leadership – without that you would not have had the coordinated effort across the Island, you would not have had the success that’s been achieved and this leadership comes from a solid competent administration, and that’s something the Island has only had since we were elected as a Conservative group.”
He said it he was completely on board with what has been said, but that,
“It should be recognised that through our leadership that the success we’ve had has been as it is.”
The motion which was amended to read as below was unanimously voted through.
Amended Motion: That Council endorses the approach taken by the Island community in response to Coronavirus and approves development of a Recovery Plan that looks to re-build the economy of the Island and at the same time ensures the continued protection of the Island Community
