The Motion, as printed in the agenda was proposed by Councillor J Kent and seconded by Councillor Byrne. The Motion read as follows:

This Council believes that a free press is a cornerstone of a fully functioning democracy. Therefore, this Council is appalled at the decision to, effectively, blacklist the editor of Thurrock Nub News - Neil Speight - and calls on "Legal and Democratic Services" to reverse their decision and fully engage with Mr Speight and all bona fide journalists.

Councillor J Kent presented the motion by stating any properly functioning democracy relied on those members here this evening being accountable to those who they served, those who elected members and residents of Thurrock. For residents to hold members to account they had to be clear, open and honest on what they were doing and how they were undertaking their roles. Members could not be truly open with residents whilst refusing to engage fully with the local media to enable them to report on activities. Councillor J Kent stated the only Thurrock based outlet was the on-line Nub News edited by Neil Speight. Councillor J Kent stated the decision not to engage with Neil Speight until July 2022 had appeared to be an overreaction, there was little justification of the ban and Neil Speight had no opportunity to discuss. The seven Nolan Principles were referred to around accountability and openness, how the secretive decision had been taken and how the decision had been communicated against those principles. Councillor J Kent concluded the Council had a duty to be open and transparent.

An amendment to this motion had been received from Councillor Gledhill and seconded by Councillor Coxshall and read as follows:

This council believes that a free press is a cornerstone of a fully functioning democracy. Therefore, we call on the Council to fully engage with Thurrock Nub News and other news organisations in line with the Council’s Communication Strategy and reasonable behaviour.

Councillor Gledhill presented the motion by agreeing to some of Councillor J Kent’s statements but stated there was a line between bluntness and where officers were not only concerned but extremely upset and felt bullied by some of the statements made. Councillor Gledhill agreed there needed to be the ability for anyone who had fallen outside the acceptable practice to have the ability to either apologise or withdraw their statement.

At 9.27pm, Councillor J Kent referred to paragraph 16.1 of the Council procedures and rules to suspend standing orders for a further 30 minutes. The Mayor called a vote to which the clear majority of Members voted in agreement to continue to 10pm.

Councillor Gledhill continued by stating discussions and decisions were allowed to be made in public and that Freedom of Information requests that were in line with policies were answered unless a matter of confidentiality. That the Council must have the ability to either not respond if they chose not to and must have the ability to not say anything if there was a proper confidentiality reason or indeed a reason in law that had to be respected. Also to have a reasonable amount of time to respond and for officers to operate without feeling harassed. Councillor Gledhill stated the Communications Strategy had been passed to allow for the above and the amended motion was more befitting and allowed the ability to answer and to engage with press organisations as long as it was in line with the Council’s Communication Strategy and reasonable behaviour. Councillor Gledhill concluded this was not based on one individual organisation but all press organisations and moved the proposed amendment tabled this evening.

Councillor Chukwu questioned what the reasons were for Thurrock Nub News to be banned.

Councillor Kerin stated how lucky Thurrock was to have such a dedicated, well respected news outlet in Thurrock and stated the way that Neil Speight had been treated in the past had not been good enough. He had concerns on the “reasonable behaviour” on the amended motion as who would define or police what reasonable behaviour meant and had no trust that this would be executed fairly or objectively.

Councillor Coxshall felt the motion had highlighted one particular person and individuals should not be discussed at meetings. By extending its session meeting had allowed open debate and discussion. Reasonable behaviour had been used instead of behaviour as people knew what reasonable behaviour would mean. Going forward changes could be made to the Media Policy and for now asked for the amended motion to be moved forward in a sensible reasonable manner with 49 members working together for this Council.

Councillor Gledhill summed up by stating the Media Policy was available to all members. In regard to the reasonable behaviour aspect of the amendment, reasonableness by law could be applied to many aspects of life as acting as reasonable so could be different for different situations. With that Councillor Gledhill moved the amendment as written.

Councillor J Kent summed up by comparing the original motion against the amended motion and stated “is appalled at the decision to, effectively, blacklist the editor of Thurrock Nub News - Neil Speight” was not in the amended motion and that Councillors needed to make a stand and agree that the way Neil Speight had been treated had been wrong. Councillor J Kent referred to the amended motion “fully engage with Thurrock Nub News and other news organisations in line with the Council’s Communication Strategy and reasonable behaviour” and stated it was not Nub News that had been banned it was Neil Speight. The core of the motion this evening was around the way an individual had been treated and would not be supporting the amendment and urged other members to consider carefully before voting.

At 9.42pm, the Mayor adjourned the meeting for two minutes.

At 9.44pm, the Mayor reconvened the meeting.

Councillor Gledhill changed the wording of his amendment motion to:

“This Council believes that a free press is a cornerstone of a fully functioning democracy. Therefore, we call on the Council to fully engage with all bona fide journalists at Thurrock Nub News and other news organisations in line
with the Council’s Communication Strategy and reasonable behaviour.”

The Mayor called a vote on the amended Motion.

With 28 votes for and 16 votes against the amended motion was agreed. A further vote was undertaken for the substantive motion to which the majority of Members voting for, the Mayor announced the Motion carried.