Minute’s applause by Peterborough councillors in support of Ukraine

Peterborough city councillors staged a minute’s applause in support of the people of Ukraine before this week’s Full Council meeting.
The applause at the start of the meeting.The applause at the start of the meeting.
The applause at the start of the meeting.

All members of Peterborough City Council stood as one at their Full Council meeting (March 2) and clapped for a full minute in respect of the people of Ukraine.

The spontaneous action was called for by the Leader of the Council, Cllr Wayne Fitzgerald following a motion tabled by Cllr Nick Sandford, in which he asked the council to give its full support to the people of that country in their moment of greatest need.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Speaking to the members, Cllr Sandford said: “I ask that this council expresses grave concern about the situation in Ukraine and the unprovoked invasion of the country by armed forces of the Russian Federation.

“That we support the actions of the UK Government in trying to resolve the situation through diplomacy, implementation of strong economic sanctions in response to the invasion and pledging support for the collective security provided by the NATO alliance and in particular towards the Baltic states and other NATO member countries in Eastern Europe.

“That we note the presence in Peterborough of many thousands of people originating from Lithuania, Poland and other eastern European countries and the important role they play in making Peterborough a dynamic and diverse city.

“That we further note that Peterborough was twinned with Vinnytsia in 1991, making it our city’s most recent twinning partnership. With a population of 370,000, Vinnytsia is located in west[1]central Ukraine and has been an important location for trade and politics since the 14th century.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“And that the council asks the Executive Director for Place and Communities to investigate ways of strengthening and developing our twinning partnership with Vinnytsia and of supporting the people of the city and the rest of Ukraine in the current stressful and dangerous situation.

“Moreover, that this council specifically asks the director to proactively follow-up with the administration in Vinnytsia following the letter recently sent to the Mayor of the town which offered our support to residents, to investigate ways of offering practical help through the twinning partnership and to look at ways of raising awareness with our own Peterborough residents of the ongoing challenges that the community in Vinnytsia is facing.”

After unanimous support for the motion from Cllr Sandford with all aspects of the motion agreed, the councillors stood up and showed their support for the people of Vinnytsia and Ukraine by clapping for one minute.