Kent County Council has declared an “illegal migration emergency” after opposition councillors to Reform UKs motion walked out of a debate in protest.
The authority passed the motion which was put forward by Reform UK councillors, stating that the county was a “frontier for the influx of illegal migrants” and residents were “dealing with the consequences”.
Other parties chose to leave the chamber ahead of the vote, claiming the debate breached electoral rules ahead of a by-election for the Cliftonville ward, with Liberal Democrat group leader Antony Hook stating that the motion was “based on prejudicial, discriminatory assumptions”.
The government said it had stopped 40,000 crossing attempts since coming into office.
The declaration calls for the government to stop the arrival of small boats “immediately” and provide “full funding to cover the costs” to the council of “dealing with the consequences of illegal migration”.
According to Reform UK, the declaration would “focus attention on Kent’s specific needs with this local crisis and would put pressure on central government to take meaningful action”.
Green Party group leader Mark Hood said his party walked out as they “could not legitimise divisive fantasy debates staged during a vital pre-by-election period”.
A by-election for the Cliftonville ward in Margate will be held on 9th April after councillor Daniel Taylor was removed upon being jailed for behaving in a controlling or coercive way towards his wife.
All 45 councillors who remained for the vote supported the motion.
