Council Criticised for Not Progressing Freedom of City for Women
July 23, 2008 7:23 PM
Calls have been renewed for women to be admitted to the Freedom of the City, with campaigners hitting out at the delay and inaction of the City Council administration.
At a Council meeting last night, Liberal Democrat councillors branded the rules 'antiquated' and 'outmoded'. Under the current regulations women are not allowed to be admitted to the freedom of the City and the daughters of freeman are not allowed to inherit the title from their father. The Liberal Democrats believe that the City Council may be in breach on European legislation and has a moral duty to act.
The issue has been discussed many times before but it received fresh impetus when Sue Howes, from North Walsham launched her fight to be allowed to take the title of freeman from her 79-year-old father Ron Morrison in November last year. The issue was taken up by North Norfolk Lib Dem MP Norman Lamb but he was frustrated when the City Council failed to reply to his request for further information.
Last night, despite the strength of the argument, the Labour administration failed to offer any guarantees that the matter would be resolved and claimed that costs were too high for the council to take action. It was revealed that the council is still waiting on overdue reports to be completed before it decides its next step.
Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Spokesman for Norwich South, Simon Wright, said: "We need action now on this issue. There has been far too much dragging of feet from the City Council. It is time for the Council to set a timetable to resolve this issue. There have been enough excuses. The current situation is discriminatory and wrong. The politicians seem to recognise this, so they must sort it out urgently."
What would you like to do next?
-
Subscribe for updates
Follow the party's activity on...
- Twitter:
- Simon Wright
- Facebook:
- Simon Wright
- YouTube:
- Liberal Democrats