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A row over moves to ban The Sun from a council escalated today as opponents locked horns over the proposal.

Flintshire council deputy leader Bernie Attridge and Cllr Kevin Hughes have put forward the motion which will be debated by the full council on Wednesday September 27.

In the motion councillors Attridge and Hughes propose a ban on The Sun in any Flintshire council property, with access also refused to their journalists.

They also want Flintshire council to support the ‘Total Eclipse of the S*n’ campaign and halt any advertising by the local authority with the newspaper.

The Welsh Conservatives have branded it an attack on the free press and claimed “this is how dictatorships start”.

But Cllr Hughes hit back saying that was “absolute nonsense” and insisted the motion was in response to the newspaper’s coverage of the Hillsborough disaster.

Ninety-six Liverpool fans were fatally crushed at an FA Cup semi-final at Sheffield Wednesday’s ground in 1989, including Flintshire’s John McBrien, who was aged 18.

The Sun was widely boycotted in Merseyside after it published a front-page story, headlined The Truth, following the football tragedy, which criticised Liverpool fans. Newspaper chiefs have since apologised.

Last month Chester West and Cheshire council (CWaC) also backed a similar motion against the Sun, banning councillors and staff from giving interviews and backing vendors choosing not to sell the newspaper.

Welsh Conservative shadow Local Government Secretary, Janet Finch-Saunders, said: “It’s an attempt at full-on state censorship of the media, and another bizarre turn from a Left Wing which no longer has the courage to debate its opponents.”

She added: “Whilst we might not like certain newspapers – and might question the impartiality of other platforms – we have a right not to consume their output. But we shouldn’t have a right to ban them.

“This is how dictatorships start.”

Cllr Hughes said: “To say this is about curtailing freedom of speech or starting a dictatorship is absolute nonsense, any other local, regional or national paper, or member of the media, we will engage with.

“This is about showing solidarity with others on Merseyside and the Wirral and CWaC and taking a stand over the way The Sun conducted itself over the Hillsborough disaster, which many fans from Flintshire attended.”

Flintshire council’s Chief Officer Governance Gareth Owens, said: “A notice of motion has been prepared by Councillors Bernie Attridge and Kevin Hughes reflecting the strong feelings elicited as a result of the Sun’s reporting of the Hillsborough tragedy.

“As with all notices of motion, it is currently being considered against the council’s procedure rules to ensure its legality.

“The decision to place the motion on the agenda for the council meeting on 27 September will not be made until this process is complete, although it is the council’s intention to act in solidarity with a number of other councils in the interests of social justice. ”

The Sun have been asked to comment.