1 Hour 39 minute minutes in to tonight’s full council meeting is the moment when Councillor Richard Kingstone chillingly tried to shut down democracy and stifle the debate. Watch it and the resulting fall out here. We were quite literally lost for words at this brazen despicable move to shut everyone else in the room up when he’d said his piece. You don’t have to even take our word for it on this one, you can ask anyone in that room what he tried to do, other than those who agreed with him.
Tonight’s full council was substantially about the Borough Council having a permanent home for a front desk, and the options to move forward with bringing it back. Superhero Kingstone has spent the last several months pretending he was fighting for the people of Tamworth to have such a facility brought back. As was pointed out to him during the meeting, the harm he has done in gaslighting his sizeable following into thinking there is currently no such thing, is incalculable. His campaign originally said it didn’t exist and was swiftly amended to say ‘fully functional’ when he was caught in his lie. Even though that amendment was indeed a lie too.
Talking of the word ‘lie’ it seems Kingstone gets himself very worked up about it, suggesting a Councillor withdraw the word when said Councillor Martin Summers stated that the Labour party (who had earlier in the day posted a Facebook video also stating there is no reception desk) had told a lie. This appeared to be too close to home for Kingstone who completely without irony angrily stood up and suggested the word was too strong to use according to the Councils’ constitution. Sheesh, it’s apparently wrong to call a spade a spade in the council chamber. The word was ‘withdrawn’ and replaced instead with ‘misleading’.
Back to Kingstone, and what he did tonight was to move a ‘Motion that the question be put’ which is apparently a means to move things on and have whatever recommendations are before the meeting be voted on there and then, without any further debate or questions about them. In essence, shut up I’ve had my say, let’s move on. The fact he did this apparently before Councillor Robert Pritchard who put his hand up had chance to speak, was not in the least bit surprising given Kingstones hate of him. In fact when the motion was quite rightly defeated, there were several Councillors who still wanted to speak. Our hero who is according to him #standingupfortamworth didn’t want anyone else to have their rightful say.
A substantial number of others in the room knew what he wanted to do, and were apparently fine with that too. Not least Councillor Danny Cook who actually seconded the motion. An intervention by Councillor Jeremy Oates pointed out that this move stifled the debate and the chance to speak, for everyone in the room. Quite shocking for people who supposedly believe in democracy. The only way to carry on, was to put Kingstone back in his box and vote against his attempt to shut up his colleagues. Which was thankfully easily done, aside from the ten Councillors who forgot we don’t live in Russia or China (inexplicably and annoyingly we cannot see who they were as the camera never showed the room whilst the vote was in progress). Fourteen Councillors had the sense to allow everyone else to continue. It’s not like they were even running out of time or were going around in circles as it should be used for.
As for the front desk, well apparently it is coming. They’re now exploring the options of doing so. As was pointed out, it’s likely the Labour Party will take credit for it when they get control of the Council in May. Unfortunately for a few of our Councillors though, tonight has shown that their true colors are not beautiful, like a rainbow.
