SECURITY has been beefed up for a Staffordshire County Council cabinet meeting after anti-racism protesters brought a previous meeting to a halt.
The full council session last week had to be suspended after members of the Stafford Campaign Against Racism and Fascism (SCARF) started a chant calling for the resignation of cabinet members accused of making racist social media posts.
There were also reports of items being thrown from the public gallery.
Following the incident, which ended with police officers escorting the protestors out of the chamber, the council ramped up security arrangements at County Buildings.
Ahead of the cabinet meeting, four security guards were posted outside the building’s entrances, checking visitors’ identification.
Guards were also stationed around the public gallery of the council chamber during the meeting.
There were no disturbances during the session, with the enhanced security arrangements costing £750.
The cabinet meeting was the first to be chaired by acting council leader Martin Murray, who addressed last week’s events.
Cllr Murray said:
“As councillors we are elected by the people in our communities to represent them, to champion Staffordshire and to deliver more for the people of this great county. This is a terrific honour for every county councillor.
“The strength in democracy is that everyone has the right to debate, to disagree and even to protest at times. But this must be done peacefully and to allow due process.
“I have already made it clear that racism and hate have no place in this council or this country, but I want to repeat that today. Our focus must be on bringing people together, not on division.”
The county council carried out review of security following the previous disturbance, resulting in the arrangements for the cabinet meeting.
A spokesperson for the county council said:
“We have a duty to keep anyone attending a county council meeting safe.
“In light of the events of the previous full council meeting where objects were thrown at councillors from the public gallery, we employed extra security to ensure the safety of county councillors, officers and members of the public.
“These security measures will be constantly reviewed going forward and are not a permanent change.
“The meeting passed without incident and we would like to thank everyone for their co-operation.”
