LEADERS in all of the five political parties of Herefordshire Council have united to condemn racism, xenophobia and hate crime in the county.

A motion, jointly signed by Councillor Jenny Bartlett of the Green Party, Cllr Terry James of the Liberal Democrats, Cllr Bob Matthews from the Herefordshire Independents, Conservative Cllr Patricia Morgan and Cllr Anthony Powers from It's Our County, was approved unanimously at last Friday's full council meeting.

It resolved the council to state unequivocally that Herefordshire welcomes people from all walks of life – and will continue to do so – and that it wants the county to be known for being a diverse and tolerant society.

"Unkind speech and acts of prejudice have no place in our county or our country," it said.

"This council continues to promote and celebrate difference and we condemn all forms of racism, xenophobia and hate crime.

"We encourage respect for one another in all that we say and do, and wish to reassure all people visiting and living in this area that they are welcome and valued members of our community."

The motion comes four weeks after the United Kingdom made the historic decision to leave the European Union, with a rise in hate crime reported nationally since.

It also echoes the stance of town councils including Hereford City Council and Kington Town Council who have condemned hate crime in the wake of attacks following the referendum.

Cllr Jenny Bartlett, who proposed the motion, said: "This motion has been supported by all group leaders and confirms that Herefordshire Council will not tolerate any acts of hate crime, racism or xenophobia and will continue to make it a place that welcomes people to our communities."

Cllr Chris Chappell recalled receiving threats for supporting plans for building a mosque in South Wye.

"It was enough abuse on social media for the council officer to make me aware of it and for the police to suggest I make myself scarce," he said.

"I have a monthly surgery, to which very few people come, but on one occasion 20 people came.

"I was appalled at some of the reasons given as to why a mosque should not be built and why I should not be supporting it. I was glad I had a colleague with me at the time.

"All prejudice is wrong and we, as a local authority, have a duty to ensure we lead from the front and absolutely deny anyone who is prejudice about any one's colour, sexual orientation or anything else, access to public places."

Councillor Tony Johnson, leader of the council, said he supported the motion but hoped the tolerance would extend to those who had genuine concerns about immigration but who had wrongly been labelled as racists.

Cllr Patricia Morgan added that work was already taking place to deal with hate crime and had been for many years, since the Herefordshire No Prejudice campaign was launched in 2006.

“The work here is funded by the PCC and hopefully that funding will continue,” she said.

“The community safety partnership met this week and did agree to relaunch the No Prejudice Here campaign within the next few weeks as it is an effective way of getting out the message.”