PRISON campaigners held another demonstration outside Braintree Council offices after claiming they are “being silenced”.

The Stop Wethersfield Airbase Prisons (SWAP) campaign held a demonstration outside Braintree Council offices last Monday night before a full council meeting.

The 30-plus strong group turned up at short notice to vented their feelings about the council’s attempt to “shut down” questions about the Ministry of Justice’s prisons proposal for Wethersfield Airbase.

Protestors chanted “Stop gagging SWAP” at the leader of the council and new CEO Dan Gascoyne for banning questions about the prisons during public question time because they had been “asked before”.

SWAP’s chair and treasurer had both submitted questions to the full council meeting but they were turned down at the last moment.

They were told the request was denied because the questions were “substantially the same" as those put to meetings of full council in the last six months which had been dealt with.

The council also told SWAP: “The matter of the MOJ’s proposal for a prison at Wethersfield is outside of the council’s control, until such time a planning application is submitted to the council as the local planning authority.”

SWAP chair Alan MacKenzie said: “This is a sad reflection on the way the council has been unrepresentative of the communities it is meant to support.

“The subversive nature in which the council is trying to silence local voices in a 'democratic' chamber reflects the dictatorial manner in which a 'strong leader' policy eventually requires reversing.

“The council executive and its new CEO are set a tone by the leader of the council.

“When such a tone steps over a line in local democracy, people come out to express their feelings in no uncertain manner and will continue to do so.”

A Braintree Council spokesman said: “Since December 2021, 31 questions have been asked at full council about the Ministry of Justice’s prison proposals at Wethersfield.

"At the last meeting, two individuals, who between them have raised questions about proposals to do with the prison ten times before, were denied the opportunity to raise questions which were deemed substantially the same as previous questions raised within the last six months.

"The decision to refuse them this time was taken in accordance with the constitution which underpins our political system.”