Labour councillor and Muslim Naushabah Khan has urged for an end to hate crime and intolerance after revealing she was told to “go home” during a conversation on the EU referendum.

Medway born and bred, Cllr Khan was speaking at Medway’s full council meeting last night, following a motion from fellow Labour councillor Dan McDonald urging the council to “work to ensure local bodies have the resources to fight racism and xenophobia” and “reassure all people in Medway they are valued members of the community.”

“I’m proud of the area where I grew up where I’ve always felt the community is warm and welcoming,” said Cllr Khan, who stood against Ukip's Mark Reckless in the Rochester and Strood parliamentary elections in 2014 and last year.

But she added: “Following the recent referendum campaign there’s a sense that things have changed.”

She then recalled a recent conversation with a constituent about the UK’s membership in the European Union. “I was told to go home by a gentleman,” she continued, “and I’m sure he didn’t mean Gillingham.

“Hate crime in any of its guises has to be challenged. We need to send a powerful message to these people that feel most vulnerable that we are able to stand up hatred and intolerance.”

While Conservative councillor Andrew Mackness supported an amended version of the motion he insisted reported hate crime had not increased in the wake of Brexit.

Conservative and Labour councillors agreed on the issue - but only after a Conservative-suggested amendment that the council would agree to “continue to” work with local bodies to fight racism and xenophobia “as necessary”.

However, the parties clashed on the issue of Syrian refugees, who the council has refused to accept, despite David Cameron’s promise to take 20,000. The Labour group had called on the council to recognise the plight of vulnerable young refugees and Unaccompanied Young Asylum Seekers, and to work with groups and agencies to offer them support.

Council leader Alan Jarrett said the government needed to lead the way on the issue, not Medway council. “This is an emotive subject, but this is an occasion where we’ve got to let our head rule our hearts.

“Dr [Samuel] Johnson said hell is paved with good intentions,” he added: “I don’t want Medway to become hell. The [Labour] motion isn’t about helping people already here because it says on the second line ‘children who seek refuge in Medway’.

“The more children of this type that we bring in, without funding and the ability to give the best possible start, it mitigates against the cohesion we are trying to build in Medway.”

He said many such children were “damaged”, which brought “extra responsibilities, problems and costs.”

The motion to support young refugees was defeated, but not before Labour councillors slammed the Conservatives’ stance. Cllr Clive Johnson said: “I appreciate there’s a national context but this motion was framed for us to do what we can, not what we can’t.
“I think that’s the least we can do for these vulnerable young people."

Cllr Khan added: “We just voted on a motion on hate crime and it doesn’t make any sense that we’re having a debate about head over heart on this motion which to me is just common sense.

“This is about children living in our community. We’re not suggesting Medway has to come up with all the answers.”

She later tweeted: “victory on #hatecrime motion a bit hollow after our motion on supporting child refugees already living here, was voted down #MedwayCouncil.”