On the very day that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are officially visiting the county for the first time, a Crawley councillor has publicly called for West Sussex County Council to sell the American Declaration of Independence.
The Declaration is one of only two contemporary handwritten ceremonial manuscript copies, the other being the signed copy housed in the National Archives in Washington D.C. The royal couple were shown the copy of the rare document during their visit this morning.
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In what can be seen as a highly controversial and outspoken view, the Tilgate councillor has publicly said that the selling of the Declaration would bring much needed funds into the county and help in aiding the homeless.

Tilgate Councillor Francis Guidera.
Speaking directly to CN24, Councillor Francis Guidera said:
“West Sussex County Council must sell the United States Declaration of Independence!
“You would be forgiven for thinking it was a Hollywood movie title but no… I publicly call for WSCC to sell the United States Declaration of Independence. Not to anyone of course. To a philanthropic, American patriot or consortium of patriots, who will be pleased to know that they are not only bringing home a priceless, precious document, but also funding homelessness and other social services in Sussex.
“For those that don’t know, this document was recently discovered in the WSCC archives, and the only other comparable copy is in the National Archives in Washington!
“A far less significant version sold at auction for $8.2 million in 2000. The copy that we have at WSCC is essentially priceless and I believe it would raise a mind-blowing amount of money which would cover a huge part of the WSCC financial black hole. WSCC has to make savings of £154 million, to be found within three years, cutting funding for homelessness support and radically restricting expenditure on crucial things like adult social care, stripping spending back to the bare minimum.
“If the document is WSCC property we cannot retain such a valuable artefact in good conscience.”
https://twitter.com/KensingtonRoyal/status/1047457259972972544
West Sussex County Council were contacted for comment.