Agenda item

RESOLVED: That

1.     This Council notes that:

·       Ealing is proud of our history of welcoming people seeking safety

·       There are significant problems with the UK asylum system that affect people in Ealing including a record backlog of cases awaiting a decision, a de facto ban on working, and enforced poverty and homelessness.

·       The Nationality and Borders Act does not address these issues, and has instead created a two-tier system, punishing people seeking safety based on the journeys they make.

·       Under these laws, people seeking safety will be criminalised and threatened with removal to Rwanda.

·       People will be warehoused in large accommodation centres, segregated from communities and denied support.

·       Many recognised refugees will receive a temporary and precarious status.

This Council believes that:

·       Everyone’s claim for asylum should be treated equally and fairly.

·       These are fundamentally ‘anti-refugee’ laws that undermine internationally recognised rights for people fleeing war and persecution to seek safety.

·       These measures will create ever-longer delays in the asylum process, lead to greater poverty and homelessness in Ealing and will undermine people’s ability to rebuild their lives.

·       People seeking safety should be housed as our neighbours and as a part of our communities.

·       The UK needs an asylum system that empowers people seeking safety to rebuild their lives and enables communities to welcome them.

This Council resolves to:

·       Defend the right to seek safety from war and persecution in the UK and sign the national ‘Fight the Anti-Refugee Laws’ pledge.

·       Call on the UK Government to withdraw the UK-Rwanda agreement, repeal the Nationality and Borders Act, and work with Local Authorities and communities to build a refugee protection system that treats all people with dignity and compassion.

·       Join the network of cities and towns which promote the inclusion and welfare of people who are fleeing violence and persecution and work to become a recognised Council of Sanctuary.

2.     This Council wishes to congratulate the England Lionesses for their historic achievement in winning this summer’s Women’s European Championship. Throughout the tournament the entire squad, coaching and support staff dedicatedly worked to produce a number of fantastic performances.

This Council particularly recognises the resilience of Ealing’s Chloe Kelly in recovering from a serious injury to make England’s squad for the finals and scoring her first international goal in the final against Germany in July to win the game, securing the nation’s first international silverware since 1966.

This Council further congratulates Chloe Kelly and the Lionesses for qualifying for the Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand next summer and sends our best wishes to Serina Wiegman’s squad as they attempt to become the first nation in the history of women’s football to win the European Championship and the World Cup consecutively.

This Council recommends to the Freedom of the Borough Committee that Chloe Kelly is nominated for Freedom of the London Borough of Ealing in recognition of her rise from Ealing student to role model for the nation’s women and for her continued advocacy for women’s sport.

3.     Ealing Council notes that the Leader, Cllr Peter Mason, and the Cabinet Member for Climate Action, Deirdre Costigan, have written to the Chief Executive of Thames Water to demand that action is taken to stop future occurrences of the recent sewage floods affecting our borough.

4.     Ealing Council notes the comments by the Heath Secretary Therese Coffey who admitted to sharing antibiotics with friends. Ealing Council further notes that the British Medical Association described those actions as both dangerous and against the law. Ealing Council calls on the Department of Health and Social Care and the NHS to issue public health messaging stressing the importance of anti-microbial resistance and that courses of prescribed antibiotics should be completed and not shared with others.

5.     Ealing Council notes the cost-of-living crisis and the associated higher energy bills many residents in Ealing will be seeing. Ealing Council  notes the Council’s plan to link residents up with existing council-run warm spaces and to provide grants to the local voluntary and community sector to assist them in providing warm spaces for residents over the winter, to keep people out of the cold in the same way as food banks have been used to feed the hungry.

6.     Ealing Council notes that in London there are eleven ‘Library of Things’ including one in Hammersmith where people can rent items at a lower cost. The Council notes the Labour administrations manifesto and the Council’s recently adopted Council Plan, that pledges to end the need to send any of Ealing’s waste to landfill and introduce the borough’s first Library of Things.