Leader of Medway Labour Group Councillor Vince Maple has submitted a motion to Medway Council’s Conservative Cabinet to prepare for Brexit.

Cllr Vince Maple, Councillor for Chatham Central said, ‘Whatever your views on Brexit it’s important that we as a local authority are prepared for the future. The council has a duty to protect Medway from any possible detrimental effects of Brexit, as well as to ensure that we are in the best possible position to reap the benefits.’

‘I was disappointed when last year the Conservative Cabinet decided to ignore the advice from the cross-party Business Support Overview and Scrutiny Committee to start preparing for Brexit, and since then it seems that no work has yet taken place.

‘The Cabinet are burying their head in the sand by not doing all they can to prepare for Brexit, so on 24^th January I am proposing a motion urging the Council to take back control of the Brexit situation in Medway by publishing a public document on the potential positive and negative impacts on Medway’s residents and businesses.’

Business support suggestion for Cabinet to produce a Brexit report can be found here:

https://democracy.medway.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=123&MId=4093

The motion reads as follows:

This council notes the Cabinet’s incomprehensible and damaging refusal to publish adequate preparations for Brexit.

This is despite the cross-party recommendation from Business Support Overview and Scrutiny Committee to do so.

The council has a clear duty to protect residents and businesses from the range of possible detrimental effects and to enable them to benefit from the range of potential positive outcomes.

Council calls on the Cabinet to review its original decision and therefore prepare and publish promptly and in detail a meaningful analysis of the threats and benefits to Medway of Brexit and detailed action plans to cover the range of possible outcomes.