Controversial ‘city leaders’ letter not as independent as first thought

An open letter from a group calling themselves Bristol’s ‘city leaders’ that was released in response to the ‘kill the bill’ riot was not as independent as first thought.

Despite mostly being written by an outside organisation, senior members of staff at Bristol City Council were part of an email chain involved in the drafting of the statement which offered unequivocal support for the police following the violent events on March 21.

The head of the mayor’s office was among City Hall bosses cc’ed into correspondence about the wording of the letter, a Freedom of Information request has revealed.

Head of city office at Bristol One City, Andrea Dell, initiated the emails about the statement, asking the ‘city leaders’ to send through any “key points” to city.office@bristol.gov.uk.

The letter, however, was not released via the city council but sent by Social, an “integrated communications agency”, on the morning of March 25, two days after police broke up a peaceful protest on College Green – actions which a subsequent independent parliamentary report suggested could have been illegal.

The statement was published verbatim on the website of Business West, whose chief executive, James Durie, was one of the letter’s signatories, who also included the bishop of Bristol, the chief executive of Bristol Airport and the vice chancellor of UWE Bristol.

Senior clergy members at Bristol Cathedral later said that people were left “deeply traumatised” by police tactics in a damning statement criticising the handling of the ‘kill the bill’ protest 48 hours before the ‘city leaders’ letter was published.

Correspondence released following the Freedom of Information request show that Dell first emailed the ‘city leaders’ at 7.06pm on March 22 regarding the statement.

“The main focus will be to signal unity, condemn what happened and demonstrate the widespread support for our Police colleagues from the city’s leaders,” she wrote.

A reply after just over one hour from a name that has been redacted asked if Dell was “intending to expand signatories eg to other faith leaders and need help getting them onboard”. (The only faith leader included among the signatories in the final letter was the bishop of Bristol, Vivienne Faull.)

On March 24, a new email thread regarding the statement includes on cc Kevin Slocombe, head of the mayor’s office at City Hall; Tim Borrett, Bristol City Council’s director of policy, strategy & partnerships; and Sophie Shirt, acting head of external communications & consultation.

At 5.54pm on March 24, Dell wrote that she thought “it would be good” if Black South West Network (BSWN) and a redacted name were included among the signatories. Nobody from BSWN signed the final letter.

At 8.26pm the same day, Dell sent an email to the ‘city leaders’ encouraging them “to share / promote (the statement) through your own channels as appropriate”.

The final email from Dell was sent at 10am on March 25, with Bristol24/7 receiving the finished letter via email from Rob Stewart at Social at 11.24am, which we published as an opinion piece on our website, not realising it had been coordinated by the city council.

Police in front of Bristol Cathedral on the evening of March 23 after clearing peaceful protesters from College Green – photo: Martin Booth

In a statement regarding how the letter came to be written, Social managing director for the South West, Ben Lowndes, said: “I was horrified to see disturbances in Bristol reported and shared across the world on 21 March. The next morning, I reached out to contacts in the city and offered to support them.

“Following that, we were asked to write and issue a response on behalf of the city leaders’ group, which we were happy to do.

“I recognise that subsequent protests raise questions about policing, in Bristol and elsewhere. This highlights more than ever how organisations and communities need to talk and listen more.

“Anyone who knows Bristol well, as we do, will surely feel that the city is better than what we saw during those protests. The statement was intended to reflect that sentiment. I’ve seen or heard nothing since that would change my own view on that.”

Crowds watch a police car burn on All Saints Street on March 21 – photo: Martin Booth

A spokesperson for the Bristol City Office said: “The City Office helped co-ordinate views on a joint statement from the city leaders group after members decided they wished to issue a response to the protests.

“An external communications agency had already offered to support the drafting and release of this response but required help in co-ordinating the input of city leaders.

“This statement was drafted by Social with input from the signatories and did not include input from any council representatives.

“The City Office is a partnership of a wide number of organisations across Bristol and is supported by Bristol City Council who host the Office.”

The ‘city leaders’ who signed the letter were Fuad Mahamed, chief executive, Ashley Housing Association; Mick Crennell, chief fire officer, Avon Fire and Rescue; Rt Revd Vivienne Faull, bishop of Bristol; David Lees, chief executive, Bristol Airport; John Hirst, chief executive, Destination Bristol; Andrew Kelly, director, Bristol Festival of Ideas & Bristol Cultural Development Partnership; David Brown, chief executive, The Bristol Port Company; Oona Goldsworthy, chief Executive, Brunel Care; James Durie, chief executive, Business West Chambers of Commerce & Initiative; Richard Bonner, director, Business West Board; Edward Rowberry, chief executive, Bristol & Bath Regional Capital; Andy Forbes, principal, City of Bristol College; Andy Street, chair of City Funds and chair of Feeding Bristol; James Freeman, managing director, and Doug Claringbold, incoming managing director, First West of England; Steve Chalke, founder, Oasis Academies; Sue Mountstevens, police and crime commissioner; Nigel Costley, south west regional secretary, TUC; Lucinda Parr, registrar and secretary, University of Bristol; Steve West, vice chancellor, UWE Bristol; Jeff Farrar, chair, University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust; Sandra Meadows, chief executive, VOSCUR; and Mohammed Saddiq, executive director, Wessex Water.

Main photo: Martin Booth

Read more: ‘Where is the condemnation from Bristol’s leaders about the actions of the police?’

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