Wrexham councillors row over ‘party politics’ during debate on Ukrainian refugee support

A row has broken out after rival councillors accused each other of “playing party politics” during a debate on how to support Ukrainian refugees.

Members of Wrexham Council considered a motion on Wednesday (16 March) urging the local authority to do “all in its power” to help people displaced by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The notice, which was put forward by the Labour group and endorsed by the leaders of the ruling independent/Conservative coalition, backed the creation of a “sponsor-a-family scheme” to assist vulnerable Ukrainian families.

It comes as the United Nations has estimated more than three million refugees have fled the country since the invasion began.

A disagreement took place during the full council meeting after Plaid Cymru leader Marc Jones took issue with the fact his group and non-aligned councillors were not invited to countersign the motion.

The original signatories later refused to accept his amendment to thank people in Wrexham for showing a “humanitarian spirit” and express gratitude to a named list of local organisations.

An additional amendment asking the UK Government to waive visa requirements for Ukrainian refugees for three years was also voted down.

Speaking at the start of the meeting, Dana Davies, leader of the main Labour opposition party, said: “The motion before you this evening states that Wrexham Council is appalled by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and stands in solidarity with the people of Ukraine against this act of barbarity, dishonesty and cowardice.

“Wrexham Council commits to do all in its power to support the people of Ukraine and encourage others to join us.

“We recognise and applaud the people of Russia, who are risking their own lives to voice their condemnation of Putin’s war.

“Men and women of Ukraine are fighting to exist, to live the life of their choosing and be free from oppression and tyranny.

“The very least we can do for them is to look after their families and their children.”

The motion was seconded by deputy Labour leader Kevin Hughes, who called on residents to “step up to the mark” by offering their homes as a place of refuge.

He was followed by Cllr Marc Jones, who said he was “surprised” to have been excluded from the motion.

He said: “It would have been an idea in the interest of speaking with one voice to have contacted all councillors and we weren’t, so that’s a disappointment.

“It’s not difficult to send an e-mail these days, is it? That’s done now and I don’t think this is the time for petty party positioning.”

Cllr Jones said his party fully supported the sentiments behind the motion, describing the war in Ukraine as “awful”

He proposed adding two further clauses to recognise the humanitarian aid provided by people in Wrexham and call for the UK Government to offer a full visa waiver for Ukrainians.

In response, Cllr Davies said he had not been contacted because of the tight deadline for submitting the motion and voiced her opposition to any changes.

She said: “I am happy to record thanks to all the people of Wrexham and everything that everybody has been involved in.

“However, I would not be able to support the additional amendments to the original motion for the reason that we’ve had this checked for robustness and legality to ensure that this is a call for action that can be taken by this council.

“The request in the motion is very specific, and we wouldn’t want to move from that.”

Deputy council leader David A Bithell (Ind) said he agreed and asked for political point-scoring to be kept out of the debate.

He said: “What’s happening in Ukraine is really terrible and I don’t want to play party politics with motions and amendments today.

“I think all of us as 52 members recognise the significance of what’s going on in Ukraine.”

His comments were echoed by council leader Mark Pritchard, who said there was “no room for politics” in the discussion.

Wrexham's Full Council votes *against* specifically thanking this list of organisations via being formally named in the motion. (Full vote, 23 v 9 with 11 abstain) https://t.co/4UXoAMuwev

— Wrexham.com (@wrexham) March 16, 2022

Cllr Jones said his amendments were meant to be “a positive addition” to the motion, but they were rejected with nine votes in favour, 23 against and eleven abstentions.

Wrexham's Full Council votes *against* this being included. (Full vote, 23 v 9 with 11 abstain) https://t.co/dVcpVe0860

— Wrexham.com (@wrexham) March 16, 2022

The original motion was later passed unanimously by councillors.

The Full Council now vote unanimously support the original motion seeing WCBC committing "to do all in its power to support the people of Ukraine and encourage others to join us" (full text on: https://t.co/7JwsUhlQJH )

— Wrexham.com (@wrexham) March 16, 2022

By Liam Randall – BBC Local Democracy Reporter