By Local Democracy Reporter Simon Finlay
Kent County Council has voted to recite the Lord’s Prayer and to sing the national anthem at full members’ meetings.
Yesterday’s annual KCC meeting heard a series of impassioned speeches from all sides of the chamber, particularly over the Lord’s Prayer.
Reform Cllr Garry Sturley, who said he is an atheist, “welcomed the Lord’s Prayer” adding: “We are a Christian country and our laws are based on Christian values.”
Leader of the Liberal Democrat opposition Cllr Antony Hook said that census data showed that 40% of the population do not have any religion.
He said: “This is not a religious body – this is a statutory body carrying out statutory functions. I know of no business that starts the day with religious practice.”
Fellow atheist Cllr Bill Barrett (Con) warned the council must be aware of not impinging on others’ human rights.
He added: “I was not elected to say prayers in this chamber. We were elected to debate and critique policy…we should remember why we are actually here.”
However Cliftonville division councillor Rob Yates (Green) said: “As someone who attends remembrance Sunday every year and says the Lord’s prayer and sing the national anthem, there’s a right time and place for this.
“I’m not paid £16,885 a year to sing songs and pray. I’m paid to serve residents and that’s where our attention needs to be.”
Among 10 items to be amended to the KCC constitution, members were asked to vote on: “Prior to all other items, each County Council meeting shall start with a recital of the Lord’s Prayer” and “As the concluding item, each County Council meeting shall end with the singing of the national anthem.”
On the Lord’s Prayer, 48 voted in favour, 15 against with six abstentions.
On the amendment on singing the national anthem, 45 were in favour, 16 against and seven abstentions.
A proposal to cut the length of the Liberal Democrat opposition leader Antony Hook’s response to the leader Cllr Linden Kemkaran’s full council speech from six minutes to five was also carried comfortably.
Cllr Kemkaran’s allotted 10 minutes to speak remains unchanged.
In her annual round-up, Cllr Kemkaran said her authority had cut an inherited debt from the previous Conservative administration from £723m to £590m. The bill for adult social care – which consumes half of the KCC budget – was also under control.
There will also be a big push to tackle the growing problem of fly-tipping and illegal waste dumping with a conference in July, she said.
KCC elected Reform UK member Cllr Jeremy Eustace as the new chair of the council. With local government reorganisation on the way as early as next year, Cllr Eustace may be the last to fill that role.
Performative bollocks from Reform as usual
I’m proud to live in a country that welcomes people of all faiths and cultures. The only thing this achieves is even less time for them to discuss more pressing concerns such as the state of the roads, ever-diminishing public transport and fenced of footpaths everywhere. Go to church on Sundays instead!
great news , we need to take back our country and beliefs
No one has ever taken away my country or my beliefs. This decision is absurd bollox.
How many people do you think in the real world visit church every sunday? its all a load of made up rubbish.
Agreed. We should all be wearing flowing robes and avoiding shellfish like Jesus.
This is appalling. The C0fE is a minority belief. KCC should be secular.
How utterly silly is this, good old Trump 2.0 rubbish!
Will the non christians if any have to leave the room when they do the lord parayer?
As a devout Christian, and even more devout Republican I abhor religion in politics, much of the worlds problems, and wars are due to religion, and this is just one more ill thought out daft policy thought up by the numpty Reform people.
You need to take a good look at 20th century China and the Soviet Union. More people died in these two countries than the rest of the world combined, whilst in pursuit of republican, atheist dogma
Yes, thank goodness Christians haven’t engaged in sectarian violence or religious persecution of each other or of other faiths. And, as for Kings rather than Republicans, you can’t accuse Kings (or Queens) of starting any wars or killing any people.
The civil war that killed tens of thousands, was due to king Charles the first Trotsky Boy!
I have never had any religious beliefs. However, I did endure Christian-based school assemblies, etc for 13 years.
I have also read The Torah, the remainder of The Bible and The Qur’an. Given the origin of the Lord’s Prayer, there is no reason why any Christian, Jew or Muslim should object to it. To non-believers like myself, it is just aspirational words and no cause to be offended.
As to singing the National Anthem? Why not? It happens in lots of countries. A lot of problems with lack of social cohesion is refusal to participate in such collective acts.
It’s obvious what the catalyst for this change of KCC culture is. Unless one has lived in a vacuum throughout the past decade.
1. Yes, I endured them for 11 years & it was a total waste of learning time.
2. If it just aspirational words then why don’t they have a positive speaker come in & do their trite nonsense, which hasn’t got anything to do with religion or flag waving?
3. Why not? Because it covers God & The Monarch-if you don’t believe in invisible sky beings & are a Republican then why would you sit there singing along to it? There lies the issue-is this mandatory for everybody, or like school assemblies can people such as Atheists, Muslims & Jehovah’s just leave the room until the nonsense has concluded?
4. Very obvious-it is a party of race grifters who use flags & plastic patriotism to rile up the football yobs & bigots even further than they are naturally. KCC Reform have proved themselves totally incompetent-so what do they do? Resort to time wasting Jingoism & worthless dogma that has no place in a council chamber to distract. These people are paid by the taxpayer to represent them, it isn’t Sunday School.
‘Like’!
Kum ba yah, my Lord, kum ba yah, oh Lord, kum ba yah
How about the 30 years war, when towns and cities were destroyed, people were hing from trees like dead fruit and large parts of Germany were laid waste.
Then we have torquemada and the Spanish inquisition, Franco and the Spanish civil war, the holocaust of course, not forgetting the destruction of the Templars and the Cathars
How will that do for a start Harry!
Sure, Stalin,Mao, Pol Pot etc have much has to answer for. But even in England the Civil war and Glorious Revolution of 1688 had a religious basis.Then we come to Northern Ireland where mind numbing hatred was carried out in the name of religious freedom. How about the Magdelane laundries, the numerous failings of the church of England, in which the last Archbishop has to resign, and the possibility of the CEO of the Post Office during the horizon scandal,being made a Bishop?
There are many good religious people, but there are a lot of humbug, and KCC have a large collection of them.
PC is quite right,KCC’s job is to fix potholes, improve the bus services, and to sort social care, all the rest is a distraction in a failed attempt to hide their lack of activity and progress.
In which case prayers to Allah & The Flying Spaghetti Monster should also be made & the singing of the Pakistan & Afghanistan national anthem.
I see true Rob Yates come out of his box! You should say prayers daily and be thankful. I despair with people like this character who ethics remain questionable. Not changed party/religion in recent weeks?
Apparently he does, but as he says quite correctly council meetings are not the place for it-they are there to serve the taxpayer, not waste valuable time with such nonsense & using it to cut other party voices.
This is embarrassing.
The church and politics is separate in the UK and Reform make themselves yet again to look like a bunch of old gammons obsessesed with nationalism. I object to this absolutely performative waste of time.
Truly embarrassing.
A proposal to cut the length of the Liberal Democrat opposition leader Antony Hook’s response to the leader Cllr Linden Kemkaran’s full council speech from six minutes to five was also carried comfortably.
Cllr Kemkaran’s allotted 10 minutes to speak remains unchanged.
There we are then-her time remains unchanged, less time for dissenting voices to respond, while adding totally needless nonsense. Just diversion tactics to try to mask their total incompetence.
Christianity started in the Middle East, not sure what all these honkies are doing. They’re not even wearing Christian clothing, just funny polyester suits from TK Maxx.
Just like the endless phony usage of by certain politicians & flag waving etc by the toothless Reform, UKIP & Restore supporters for a ‘Patriotic Saint’ who was born in Turkey & never came to the UK. They also worship a fictional King who got the crown by having some lady in a lake giving him a sword.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in This Sceptred Isle:-
https://x.com/i/status/2057422050029949289
Do you see?🙄
There are clearly extremists on all sides.
Perhaps you should scroll down to the responses to see it as you can see from the video more race-baiting editing to create a false impression. The man is from Newham Borough Council & talking about gender equality-while highlighting two executive females on their council & nobody is arguing with him.
I wonder how many of them know all the words.
I wonder how many could even read them.
What Sarah Wyld said.
You couldn’t make it up!🤣
Typical Reform dystopian nonsense!
The Lord says “in my name there will be many impostors like those idiots at KCC”
Must be folk having perpetual indigestion from their faux indignation and negative diatribes. They have truly been socially engineered into the divide and rule games.
I’m a 75 year old Brit and appalled by this. We live in a multicultural country and have many friends from differents ethnic origin and faith’s what is this about?
Its about petty nationalism, and another attempt to bash people who are not Christain, or royalists, thats what its about, and I suggest KCC councillors stage a mass walk out every time they hold a meeting and this rediculous charade occurrs!