Councillors to discuss removing Prince Andrew's Freedom of York honour
A meeting's taking place later to vote on whether to relinquish the Duke of York's honour in the wake of the sexual assault case brought against him
A decision on whether to strip the Duke of York of his honorary freedom of the city will be made later today (Thursday, 24 March).
Prince Andrew was awarded the honour in 1987 - but now Lib Dem councillors want that taken off him.
Councillors will hold a extraordinary full council meeting tonight to discuss the move.
It follows calls made for Prince Andrew to relinquish the honour in the wake of the sexual assault case brought against him in America, which has now been settled out of court.
The full council meeting was due to be held in person but it has been moved online-only due to an outbreak of Covid among councillors.
An email from the council’s director of governance and monitoring officer, Janie Berry, said chief operating officer, Ian Floyd was “obliged to consider that a number of councillors have recently tested positive for Covid” and that others had been in close contact with positive cases.
The email added: “Consequently, there is a risk that some of these could be in attendance at the extraordinary meeting of full council and the subsequent full council on 24th March 2022.
“While changes to national guidance mean that public meetings can now take place and there is no longer a legal requirement to self-isolate which would prevent those with the coronavirus from attending, the council does have a duty of care to act in the best interests of all and ensure people attending meetings of the council can do so safely and responsibly.”
You can watch the meeting live on the City of York Council YouTube page