Freedom of Hull honour for members of Falklands Taskforce
PEACEFUL AGAIN: The Falkland Islands, liberated by British forces in 1982 following their invasion by Argentina. Picture by Paul Carroll
By Simon Bristow
Hull members of the 1982 Falklands Taskforce have been granted the Freedom of the City.
The motion granting the honour was passed unanimously at Hull City Council yesterday at the first full meeting of the council since the Local Elections earlier this month.
Hull played a key role in the conflict, contributing nine vessels which sailed to the South Atlantic as part of the Taskforce, including three tugs and the passenger ferry MV Norland.
The meeting also saw Liberal Democrat Councillor Kalvin Neal elected unopposed as the new Lord Mayor of Hull and Admiral of the Humber, succeeding Councillor Christine Randall. Fellow Lib Dem, Councillor John Robinson was elected Deputy Lord Mayor, beating the Labour nominee Councillor Gary Wareing.
The Lib Dems increased their majority at the council at the elections, and now have 32 members to Labour’s 25.
Lib Dem group leader, Councillor Mike Ross, was re-elected as leader of the city council.
One of the longest-serving members of the council, Coun Ross was first elected in 2002 and has led the Lib Dem group since 2015. The party’s election victory on May 4 – the second successive win under Coun Ross’s leadership – saw the Lib Dems gain three seats.
Coun Ross also announced his new Cabinet members. They are:
Deputy Leader: Councillor Jackie Dad
Communications and Communities: Councillor Jack Haines
Culture and Leisure: Councillor Rob Pritchard
Children’s Services: Councillor Linda Tock
Adult Services: Councillor Linda Chambers
Regeneration and Housing: Councillor Paul Drake-Davis
Policy Delivery, Engagement and Community Safety: Councillor Dave McCobb
Environment: Councillor Julia Conner
Transport, Roads, and Highways: Councillor Mark Ieronimo
Commenting on his new-look top team, Coun Ross said: “The Liberal Democrats in Hull have just had their best ever result and I’m proud to lead the strong, winning team that made that happen.
“This team is back to work, continuing our efforts to make the whole of Hull cleaner, greener and safer.
“We said when we first got elected that we would make this council one that listens to people and we will continue to do just that. This means delivering on what people across the city told us time and time again they want.
ROW: How Hull Labour attacked changes to the Area Committee structure on Twitter
“This Liberal Democrat administration has meant more money for tackling crime, more money to keep the streets cleaner and greener and a real plan to tackle Hull’s transport system once and for all.
“Real change takes time and we’re delighted that people in their thousands rejected the negative washed up Labour Party and put their faith in this Lib Dem team to deliver for them.”
The hottest debate in the meeting concerned the Lib Dems reducing the number of Area Committees from seven to three, which several Labour members spoke in the chamber to oppose, calling it “anti-democratic”.
Responding to previous Labour jibes about his administration not being decisive enough, Coun Ross said this showed they were and the new format would be more effective.
The Labour group later condemned the move on Twitter, saying: “Area Committees are designed to give local people a voice in decision making that affects us all and the Lib Dems decimated that today.
“Hull Labour oppose these changes and will always fight to have local people’s voices heard from across the city.”
Coun Haines said: “People elected the Libeal Democrats a year ago because they wanted change. The council has had the same number of Area Committees for 23 years, and fewer and fewer residents have been engaging with them. We believe it's time to try something different and see if it works better.
“One of the most important priorities for us is making this a council that listens and makes a difference to what residents see when they open their front door.
“We hope these new changes will empower local councillors to deliver more for their local communities. What’s more is if these plans don’t deliver, we can always keep the door open to review what works best for the city.”