By Joe Locker, Local Democracy Reporter
A formal complaint has been submitted against a Rushcliffe councillor who told a non-native English-speaking colleague he could “only understand about every tenth word” of a speech she made.
During a Council and Democracy meeting in Rushcliffe Borough Council’s chamber on December 5, Conservative Cllr Phill Matthews made the comment about Labour Cllr Dora Polenta as she spoke on a motion to better support the borough’s farming community.
The motion was tabled to formally affirm the council’s gratitude to farmers, and ensure food and drink at council-organised events is sourced locally.
Cllr Polenta, who is Greek, had been making a speech about how many farmers live on a “knife-edge”, pressured by falling livestock prices, the impact of climate change and rising costs due to corporate profiteering and Brexit.
She went on to discuss supermarkets, landowning, as well as a need for sustainable, greener farming due to climate change making locally grown food “a luxury”.
At this point Cllr Matthews called a “point of order”, stopping her speech, and said: “I fail to see what the relevance of the speech is, but that might be me because I can only understand about every tenth word.
“I’m finding it really difficult to understand what is actually being debated, but it does actually sound like it is nothing to do with the motion, so could we move to the vote?”
Cllr Ted Birch, of the Rushcliffe Independents, interjected and described Cllr Matthews’ comments as “out of order” and “utterly rude”.
Later in the meeting it is understood Cllr Matthews formally apologised to Cllr Polenta, and again directly to her after the meeting.
Cllr Jen Walker, the leader of the Rushcliffe Labour Group, has since written to the council’s chief executive, its monitoring officer and the Local Government Association (LGA) to lodge a complaint.
The letter, seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), says: “This incident has raised serious concerns about the treatment of non-native English-speaking councillors and the failure of the democratic process to adequately address discriminatory behaviour.
“Such a remark is deeply offensive, dismissive, and a blatant manifestation of lingua-phobia and native-speakerism.
“What is particularly disheartening is that this remark went unchallenged by the democratic services team and the Mayor acting as Chair.
“This incident reflects a broader reality faced by many non-native English speakers, where their contributions are undervalued and interrupted under the guise of language barriers. Such attitudes and behaviours are not benign; they are discriminatory and have no place in a democratic institution committed to inclusivity and equality.”
Cllr Walker told the LDRS while Cllr Polenta can speak at a fast pace, it is “the onus for us to learn to understand”.
She added: “That kind of attitude means people who do not speak English as their first language can be put off attending council meetings, or becoming councillors in the first place.”
Cllr Polenta spoke to say there is a complaints process that must now be followed.
The complaint letter asks that Cllr Matthews’ conduct be investigated alongside “the actions (or lack thereof) of the Mayor and other officials present”, and that the council provides training on linguistic diversity.
Cllr Matthews told the LDRS: “I raised a point of order regarding the relevance of what Cllr Polenta was saying, which was upheld by the mayor.
“It seemed that Cllr Polenta took offence at the manner of my intervention, for which I apologised to her during the meeting and afterwards directly to her.
“I had no intention of causing her any offence.”
A Rushcliffe Borough Council spokesperson added: “The chief executive and monitoring officer have confirmed correspondence has been received from the leader of the opposition and any complaints will be dealt with in line with the council’s formal process.”
Cllr Andy Brown (Con), the Mayor, declined to comment.
