Bishop Stortford to end its twinning relationship with foreign cities
December 15th, 2011 - 12:41 am ICT by Aishwarya BhattLondon, Dec 14 (THAINDIAN NEWS) Bishop’s Stortford has decided to end its twinning relationship with two foreign cities. The English town shared cultural links with the German city of Friedberg and the French city of Villiers-sur-Marne.
Announcing the decision, the lawmakers of the town explained that they no longer have the “interest” to go ahead with the program that has been ongoing for a long time. The lawmakers reached the decision after a 13-3 vote in favor of severing the ties. The relationship has been going on for more than 46 years now. The vote was taken on the 19th of September.
Liberal Democrats accuse their Conservative counterparts of instigating the idea that Britain should disassociate from the European Union.
Councillor Mike Wood told the Guardian that, “It’s a strange decision. None of us could see it coming…it’s indicative of modern-day Conservatives. They have this hangup about Europe… I think Euroscepticism has grown. You see this in many walks of life. You see it in this parliament.”
Two other councils Wallingford, Oxfordshire and Doncaster, South Yorkshire have all voted in the past to cut their twinning ties with other foreign cities.
The practice of twinning a British with a foreign town has been around for at least a century.
Friedberg has reacted to the decision of the town saying it has been coming for 10 years now.
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