A dispute between parties has risen following the "failure" to invite Bicester's soldiers to a D-Day event earlier this month.
Members of Bicester Town Council expressed “shock and embarrassment” on Monday (June 24) evening over the "failure to invite the town’s soldiers to its D-Day commemoration event on June 6".
A motion, brought by the Conservative group, raised condemnation over this "failure".
The Conservative group claims that the motion, which passed on Monday, saw "Liberal Democrat and Green Councillors fail to support it".
Councillor Nick Mawer, leader of the Conservative Group, said: “This event was advertised publicly with just one days’ notice.
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"It is deeply troubling that the Liberal Democrats and their Parliamentary Candidate attended with a camera crew, yet no invitation was extended to Bicester Garrison, local Regiments, nearby RAF Croughton, or other forces and veterans’ groups in the town.
"This shabby spectacle was an insult to our town’s veterans and Forces personnel.”
The motion was brought by the Conservatives following "outrage" expressed by Christine Townsend of Bicester’s Women’s Royal Army Corps (WRAC) veterans’ group.
Conservative Councillor Donna Ford, who tabled the motion, said: “To see members of the town council abstain on this when the 80th anniversary of D-Day should have been a seminal event for Bicester, a garrison town, is shocking.
"The council got this wrong completely, and it’s especially shocking since soldiers from Bicester Garrison played a vital part in the Normandy Landings”.
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In response to this, Liberal Democrat Councillor Rachel Mallows described Councillor Ford as a "hypocritical opportunist", claiming that Rupert Harrison, Conservative candidate for Bicester, used the event for his own social media publicity.
Ms Mallows said: "Tory councillors appear to have manufactured a story to distract from the ‘betgate’ scandal and the Prime Minister’s own D-Day gaffe.
"The Garth Park D-Day commemoration was organised by officers, one of whom is a veteran.
"The town council and garrison are in regular contact regarding civic events including the forthcoming Armed Forces day on June 29.
"They were therefore aware of the considerable commitments including operational deployments overseas and supporting the event in Normandy.
"Officers therefore chose not to put additional strain on the Garrison.
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"Officers did inform Councillor Ford of this information, yet she has chosen to put politics before country.
"She also hypocritically ignores Tory candidate posing for photos that he has used for publicity purposes.
"At Bicester Town Council, we are proud to employ veterans. Our own mayor is a veteran.
"If these councillors are genuinely concerned about our Armed Forces, they might ask themselves why their own government has cut numbers by around 20 per cent since 2010."
The motion included proposals that the town council draws up a comprehensive list of all future military themed events with invites extended to Bicester Garrison and other military groups to ensure this does not happen again.
The mayor of Bicester has been contacted for comment.
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