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Councilor Simon Myers raised the plight of his young Labrador Jacob when he asked York and North Yorkshire Mayor David Skaith at a meeting of the Skipton and Ripon Area Committee.
The light-hearted exchange followed comments made by Labor’s Environment Minister Jenny Riddell-Carpenter at the party’s conference in Liverpool earlier this week.
Speaking at a fringe event, the Suffolk Coastal MP warned of the “far-right” shaping of rural Britain, referring to a nostalgic image of “warm ale” and “a black Labrador at your feet in a pub”.
Her statements have since attracted criticism from some rural groups and political opponents.
Cllr Myers, a Conservative executive member on North Yorkshire council, told Mr Skaith the comments had caused some consternation at home.
“The Labor Party conference and some of the reported comments from ministers have given Jacob, my young Labrador, much cause for concern,” he said.
“It appears that rural Labradors who sometimes take their owners to the pub – and there are tens of thousands of them across North Yorkshire – are now being categorized as far-right by ministers of the Crown.
“Jacob was very concerned that he would not be mistaken for a Jack Russell terrier who might have very questionable political views.”
Cllr Myers asked the Labor mayor if he would distance himself from comments which, he said, appeared to characterize rural England as “full of far-right people”.
He added that he hoped Mr Skaith would also reject the rhetoric of those on the political right who have described people who disagree with them as “traitors”.
It emerged that Cllr Myers was not the only politician at the meeting whose Labrador was familiar with the inside of a pub.
Mr Skaith said: “As I am taken to my local pub on a very regular basis by my 13-year-old black Labrador, an ex-working dog, I do not associate myself with that terminology.
“As a proud North Yorkshireman all my life, and having represented this county for the last few years, I love everything about it and I don’t associate it with that terminology.
“I don’t know where that came from, honestly.”
The mayor then struck a more serious note, warning of increasingly divisive political debate.
“I think we’re in a very angry, divided place right now, and I think we all have a duty as representatives of our areas to work with each other and be respectful,” he said.
“We can have disagreements about things from time to time. We’re human.
“But we’ve seen tensions grow across the county in certain areas, and I don’t want that in my county, and I don’t think anyone around this table does either.”
