Protestors outside Worthing Town Hall calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza war received support from some Worthing Borough Council members.
The protest, organised by ‘Parents for Peace Worthing’, was held before the special full council meeting on Tuesday, December 12, to lobby the council to write to the government and call for it to support a ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza war.
One of the organiser’s, Rebecca Sinclair, said the group had submitted four questions to the council to be asked during the following full council meeting, but prior to the meeting all of them were deemed inappropriate by council officers.
She said the group’s main concern as ‘parents for peace’ was the number of children killed and who have lost their parents, saying nearly 10,000 children had died so far.
Chanting was made deliberately louder from outside once the special full council meeting was due to start, and could be heard as members were speaking in the town hall before dying down after five to ten minutes.
Councillors Emma Taylor-Beal (Lab, Heene), Hillary Schan (Lab, Tarring) and Clair Hunt (Green, Goring) were present for the protest and supported the calls for a ceasefire.
The present Labour members said Worthing’s Labour administration had written a letter in support of the ceasefire on behalf of the party, but protestors were looking to the whole council for its support via a motion-on-notice to be passed by the full council at a future meeting.
Ms Taylor-Beal said a letter with support of the whole council was unlikely and although it might not get policy changed nationally, ‘what else’ do people have to express their views on the issue ‘except their voice’.
Worthing’s opposition Leader Kevin Jenkins (Con, Goring) said his party was not opposed to the idea of a ceasefire but that it must be done ‘on the right terms’ and that it was ‘in support of’ the national government’s stance on the matter. He said writing to the national government was probably unlikely to make much of a difference to policy.
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