A councillor has been criticised for knitting while answering questions at a meeting. Monmouthshire council's cabinet member for resources Rachel Garrick was condemned on social media after another councillor posted footage from Thursday's scrutiny committee. In response, Ms Garrick has called for more understanding of disabilities.
Conservative opposition leader Richard John tweeted that the Labour councillor had brought the council into "disrepute" for knitting when she was asked about her proposals for £11million cuts to services. But Ms Garrick, who represents the Caldicot Castle area, said knitting helps her focus in the same way fidget toys do for some people.
Ms Garrick, who had attended the meeting remotely, told WalesOnline: "[Knitting] allows me to be present in the moment without my brain concentrating on the chronic pain I experience due to Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and osteoarthritis in my cervical, thoracic and lumbar spine as well as my sacroiliac joint. At the moment, it also serves to settle my mind during a period of stress whilst I am supporting my mother.
"It’s a tool that allows me to manage pain and stress in this instance. It facilitated my ability to actively listen to the meeting, the questions and answers that were given. The use of a tool to 'fidget' arguably resulted in me being more attentive in the meeting than if I had not."
Mr John, who led the council before the Tories were deposed last year, claimed residents would be "disappointed that a senior cabinet member could seem so distracted and disinterested" while being scrutinised. He added: “Councillor Garrick was in the meeting to defend Labour’s £11million cuts to council services, including by charging £2 for school breakfast clubs, cutting school funding by 3% and cutting £4million from social care, and should have been fully engaged in the meeting.
“As a former cabinet member and leader, I always felt really nervous appearing before a select committee because it’s an important function for councillors to hold you to account on behalf of residents and you have to respect that. The ability to hold hybrid meetings does make councils more diverse and accessible, especially for councillors with work or caring responsibilities, but the ability to join remotely should not be abused."
The footage sparked an online backlash from many members of the Welsh Conservatives, including Shadow Local Government Minister Sam Rowlands MS, who said: "This behaviour is quite insulting and makes a mockery of local democracy."
But Ms Garrick argued that the response showed a lack of understanding of diversity. She added: "I am surprised that Richard John thought the appropriate place to mention this might be Twitter. He was very aware that I am a disabled member of the council... I think it's incredibly important that invisible disabilities and diversity are understood and embraced in modern democracy.
"Personally, I was a wheelchair user in the past and it took two years of physiotherapy and hard work to be able to walk unaided. I have experienced how difficult it is to become elected in a system which is very much skewed towards able-bodied candidates... I genuinely hope that in future, councillors will feel comfortable in approaching me with questions about my disability rather than drawing conclusions based on their own lived experience."
Ms Garrick called for more focus on the budget itself as councillors face the task of addressing more than £26million of cost pressures for the next financial year. She said: "We are proposing a balanced budget which carefully considers the needs of our residents and the impact that the rising costs of service have on our community. We’re taking serious decisions on the impact of service reductions on our residents."
The councillor added: "As a minority administration, its important that all councillors understand their duty to the communities that elected them. This is an incredibly hard year and all councillors need to ensure that they fully engage with consultation to ensure that budget for Monmouthshire is agreed upon."
Councillor for Magor East and Undy, Angela Sandles, said she was "totally in awe" of Ms Garrick. She tweeted: "It’s recognised that knitting is a perfect exercise therapy for keeping small joints mobile."
Mr Rowlands claimed the knitting showed a "flippant attitude by Labour when they’re supposed to be defending their £11m worth of cuts despite a better than expected financial settlement". He said: “The incident also clearly supports the hesitations I have already spoken about regarding an overreliance on hybrid meetings, with councillors using it to evade their responsibilities, while missing out on building new relationships, skills, and experiences. Let’s see Labour needle their way out of this one.”
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