Overview
- An extraordinary City of York Council meeting at The Guildhall on March 26 at 6:15 p.m. will consider a single motion to withdraw the honour conferred on Ferguson in 1987.
- The proposal cites Section 249 of the Local Government Act 1972 as the legal basis for removing the Honorary Freeman status.
- The move follows disclosures about Ferguson’s links to Jeffrey Epstein, including a 2011 email in which she called him a “steadfast, generous and supreme friend,” which her spokesperson says was sent under legal threat.
- Companies House filings show several Ferguson‑linked firms moving toward strike‑off, and her charity Sarah’s Trust announced it would close for the foreseeable future.
- York stripped Andrew Mountbatten‑Windsor of the same civic honour in 2022; he was arrested in February on suspicion of misconduct in public office and later released without charge as investigations continue.