Oxford City Council votes to stand against "toxic far right narratives"
It follows a number of protests
Oxford City Council has voted to stand against “toxic far right narratives”, with councillors saying communities were “living in fear” amid a surge in protests and hate crimes.
This comes after a number of protests and anti-racist counter protests took place outside a Holiday Inn in Oxford, where asylum seekers are housed.
There was also a hate crime at Oxford Central Mosque in August, where a man stuck pork and an Israeli flag at the door.
A Green party motion calling on the council to stand with minority communities and oppose far right rhetoric was discussed by councillors at their full council meeting on Monday, October 6.
Green Councillor Dr Alex Powell, who proposed the motion, said he had spoken to people “who are living in fear as a result of the racist discourses that have permeated our society”.
He added that the motion aimed to “address the spread of toxic far right narratives” from both Government and far right protestors.
The motion also asks for the leader to write to the Home Secretary to restate its opposition to Campsfield House in Kidlington reopening.
Labour councillor Simon Ottino said: “What we have seen recently is the whipping of hatred and demonisation of minorities by super rich people like Elon Musk.
“It seeks to turn ordinary working person against ordinary working person, blaming each other for our problems when the real reasons we have those problems is the inequalities in our society.
“It’s up to all of us, not just as a council, but as individuals, to come out and challenge these false narratives and physically show we stand with those minority groups.”
However, councillor Anne Stares, from the Independent Oxford Alliance, said the motion was “virtue signalling at its best”.
She added: “Immigration has been part of the backbone of this country, and we are the better for it.
“But how many of us would go home tonight and leave our front door open for anyone to come in?
“You ask for a fairer and more welcoming Oxford to those we know nothing about, while at the same time you support and promote unfair and discriminatory restrictions to be placed on our own residents.”
Lib Dem councillor Jo Sanderson said her comments were “dog-whistle politics”, and that as a Jewish person herself she and other minorities felt “increasingly fearful” due to the “tsunami of hate speech on social media”.
Councillor Ed Mundy, who represents the Oxford Community Independents, said: “We do have to have conversations on the doorstep … you have to be ready to challenge people when they speak in that way, you can’t just sing to the tune that comes from the far right.”
Councillor Dr Hosnieh Djafari-Marbini, from the same party, said she and councillor Ottino had Islamophobic rhetoric repeated to them on the doorstep.
She added: “It is not illegal to seek asylum. All the people at the asylum hotel have sought asylum.
“It is bad policy to place them all in one place in the most deprived part of Oxford and then expect there to be no issues arising.”
Green councillor Diane Regisford said: “Our communities, and I speak about myself within this, are living in fear.
“When my colleagues go to the demonstrations at the weekend, my communities are cowering in the house in fear.
“We cannot underestimate the impact and the intergenerational legacy of dispossession that still exists today.
“These are some of the deeper levels that we need to get closer to.”
Green councillor Chris Jarvis said: “Since this motion was drafted we have already had things getting a lot worse, and that’s only in the last two weeks.
“We are a rich tapestry, we are strengthened by our diversity, and we must stand up as a council and as a city for that diversity, unite against the far right and the divisive narratives of them.”
After the meeting councillor Stares said her concerns had been “met with hysteria”.
She said: “Many residents have, shared with me, their fears and concerns regarding undocumented migrants housed nearby.
“In an ‘echo chamber’ that has no interest in hearing views that challenge their own, who are not prepared to consider a community’s fears and concerns and descend to label any counter argument as’ far right’, making clear that it is impossible to have a balanced conversation.
“This is undemocratic and deeply disappointing, divisive and alarming.”
The motion passed with the vast majority of councillors supporting it, with three Independent Oxford Alliance councillors abstaining.