Cambridgeshire and Peterborough councils votes for zero tolerance on abuse

Peterborough City Council voted for a zero tolerance approach to abuse at a meeting on Wednesday

Two authorities have passed motions voting for a "zero tolerance approach" to anyone who abuses councillors.

Cambridgeshire County and Peterborough City councils pledged to endorse the Local Government Association's "debate not hate" campaign.

Alex Bulat, believed to be the first Romanian-born county councillor in the UK, said she had abuse levelled at her in Cambridge because of her heritage.

The county council said the motion was intended to "encourage respect".

Ms Bulat, the Labour councillor representing Abbey Ward in Cambridge, said: "As someone who has an accent in politics, I got the usual 'go back home' comments and other hateful comments, people saying quite nasty things about Eastern Europeans."

She said that, while she was in favour of free speech, "I think we have to be quite careful about the language we use".

Supporting the Local Government Association (LGA) campaign will see the county council working with police to provide councillors with training on how to respond to abusive correspondence, she said.

Alex Bulat (standing) brought the zero tolerance motion to the council on Tuesday

The council's constitution and ethics committee will also be asked to consider an action plan to mitigate the risks of intimidating and abusive behaviours against members and officers.

"I don't want to see more good people feeling they have to quit because they have to balance the sort of comments we receive, while protecting their own mental health," Ms Bulat said.

'Intimidation'

Dennis Jones, the Labour and Cooperative Party councillor for Dogsthorpe in Peterborough, who brought the motion to the city council, said it was "a privilege to do it - but by no means a pleasure".

He said he had not experienced abuse himself, but a fellow female candidate had been sent pictures and intimidating emails within two days of announcing she was standing for election, he said.

He said that "for certain people", the problem of abuse was "deep and wide".

"Nobody should be facing this kind of intimidation and we should all be standing together to reduce it, if not stamp it out," he added.

The LGA said seven in 10 councillors reported experiencing abuse or intimidation in the last year, according to a 2022 councillor census.

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