Council leader says WNC will no longer support Northampton Pride with council officer time after raising concerns

The Pride event took place in Market Square on Saturday afternoon, attracting hundreds of visitors and included a number of events and activities. The event began with a march around the Market Square.

However, the leader of WNC, Councillor Mark Arnull, announced on Monday evening at a meeting of the council that following the event, council resource will no longer be used to support it.

In his opening statement, Councillor Arnull said: “A number of other weeks things have come up, and this is around Pride, civic pride and our responsibility to our place and upholding good order.

“Some the scenes this weekend were rather disappointing that certain events were politicised and certain hateful things were shown on garments in the Market Square.

“We have a duty as stakeholders here to manage place and environment to do the best we can, so some of those things were quite disappointing at the weekend.

“It comes at a point when this council facing more difficult challenges ahead, financially, lots of different things and certainly pressures on adult social care and that are going to put a huge strain on our resources.

“So I will put this on the record that we will be taking absolutely a view that we will only do what is right for every resident in West Northamptonshire, not a small minority of people that want to turn something into a political funfair.

“So in terms of Pride, this council will not be contributing in any way to Pride, be it officer time – it has not issued anything financially in the last year – but in terms of officer time, I am absolutely certain now that our goal is to contribute to every resident’s welfare in this county and we will get on with it now.”

Councillor Arnull’s was greeted with applause and ‘hear, hear’ comments in the chamber.