Things seem to be getting a little jittery in the Brent Labour Group of councillors ahead of their Annual General Meeting which will be held after the May 5th GLA and Kilburn elections.
One councillor had apparently threatened resignation and was then suspended by the Labour whip with London Region Labour Party getting involved. His current status is unclear.
This is a little embarrassing during a by-election in Kilburn.
Muhammed Butt is disclaiming any knowledge of what is going on and referred any concerned colleagues to London region.
Meanwhile speculation over Butt's position as leader centres on whether he will get a job with Sadiq Khan if the Labour candidate wins the London Mayoral election.
Should a challenger from within the Labour Group wait for a peaceful succession when Butt moves on, or start campaigning for a leadership challenge at the AGM now in case Butt's job with Khan does not come off?
Cllr Pavey, deputy leader, was open about his disgruntlement over his Human Resources inquiry LINK while Cllr Sam Stopp hinted at political pressure on planning decisions when he spoke to the Kilburn Times about the 'Twin Towers' LINK:
One councillor had apparently threatened resignation and was then suspended by the Labour whip with London Region Labour Party getting involved. His current status is unclear.
This is a little embarrassing during a by-election in Kilburn.
Muhammed Butt is disclaiming any knowledge of what is going on and referred any concerned colleagues to London region.
Meanwhile speculation over Butt's position as leader centres on whether he will get a job with Sadiq Khan if the Labour candidate wins the London Mayoral election.
Should a challenger from within the Labour Group wait for a peaceful succession when Butt moves on, or start campaigning for a leadership challenge at the AGM now in case Butt's job with Khan does not come off?
Cllr Pavey, deputy leader, was open about his disgruntlement over his Human Resources inquiry LINK while Cllr Sam Stopp hinted at political pressure on planning decisions when he spoke to the Kilburn Times about the 'Twin Towers' LINK:
Although there are some fairly open critics of Cllr Butt's leadership in the Labour group, especially over his 'controlling' behaviour, I am doubtful about how much support they can gather amongst their colleagues.“There are questions to be made about who is making decisions about which planning application goes ahead. What causes the decision made at planning to be made? Is it just on the merits of the scheme or are there political angles there as well?
There are 56 members of the group but only half a dozen or so, aside from Cabinet members, make much impact on Council business. They may be united as critics of Butt but do not seem to be united by any particular political ideology or programme.
Against them are the silent majority, 'Mo's people', sometimes disparagingly known as the 'puddings', who keep a low or non-existent public profile. They turn up at Council meetings, stumblingly read out planted questions to allow Cabinet members to preen themselves, and then vote like robots for the official line.
12 comments:
I have redacted one word in this comment from a Labour Party member.
I think you may have underestimated the level of dissent. As a Labour member in the south of the borough, I regularly talk to disaffected councillors.
Even if a challenge isn't successful, a huge chunk will be taken out of Lutfur Butt's 'authority' and he will go in two years or before.
This is the beginning of the end for his XXXXXXX regime.
I've tried and tried to work out the redacted word, but to no avail. Go on, Martin, give us a clue.
Re The Leader's iconic twin towers legacy (or double inadequacy over-compensation) project, readers might find this account of the light-stealing consequences of London's skyscraper 'development' interesting. It appears that one of Butt's legacy achievements for the people of Wembley could well be Mo' Rickets.
https://www.byline.com/column/49/article/975
Mike Hine
Butt's Brent Stasi
There are technically 54 members now because Butt has withdrawn the whip from two of his opponents.
I have also received comments from a Labour councillor about Mo Butt's "controlling behaviour".
On one occasion recently (I think the spelling mistake was intentional, but you may choose to redact it, Martin) the councillor referred to Brent Labour's 'leadershits', saying: 'It really does remind me of the Third Reich in many ways.'
Like Martin in his blog above, I suspect that Cllr. Butt's "silent majority" of Brent Labour councillors will keep him in power for as long as he wants to be Leader. However, I would be happy to be proved wrong!
Philip.
Interesting. I would assume this would involve some kind of disciplinary process and a right to appeal.
I'll lay odds one of them is the splendid Mr Duffy.
Dear Anonymous at 16:52,
Can you tell us, please, who the two Labour councillors are who have had the whip withdrawn?
The Brent Council (elected representatives) website shows 55 Labour members, following the Kilburn vacancy, including Cllr. Zaffar Van Kalwala who was suspended for a time over his court case with Cllr. Krupa Sheth.
So, what are Brent Labour and the Council's website not telling us?
Philip.
Is it really going to make a difference if anyone else becomes leader as they must all be spineless not to stand up.
This breed of politicians we have in Brent are mostly spineless and a waste of space. Why else would they tolerate Butt? Man is an egostical megalomaniac. I truly hope Sadiq Khan does not win. Anything is better than having those 2 working together in charge of London. God forbid
I agree that many of Brent's councillors appear to be 'a waste of space', but by nodding through whatever the Council Leader wants, without fulfilling their duty to stick up for the residents they are supposed to represent, they are also a waste of money!
At £10,100 a year, plus extra payments for being committee members, are we getting "value for money"? When the local elections come round again in two years time, I hope that Brent's citizens will throw out all those councillors who have not been doing the job for which they were, supposedly, elected.
Philip.
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