Green Group Leader on Brent Council: The Labour Group were knowingly misled at last night's Council Meeting as part of a personal vendetta

 

Cllr Mitchell addresses Full Council yesterday evening

Statement by Cllr Mary Mitchell, leader of the Green Group on Brent Council,  after the debacle over selection of the chair of the new Housing Scrutiny Committee at yesterday's Full Council Meeting;

  

In the first Full Council of this administration the Green Group’s motion proposing a new housing scrutiny committee was unanimously accepted. In the same meeting we made the case that the natural and democratic way of approaching the three committees would be for each of the opposition parties, of a similar size with 11, 11, and 9 councillors to chair these committees. 

 

As part of the Labour Conservative deal that was made to keep Cllr Muhammed Butt as the leader of the council, two of the scrutiny chair positions, with remuneration of £15,299 were given to Conservative Councillors. 

 

The Green Group firmly believes in the principle of democracy and thus have consistently voiced the perspective that the Liberal Democrats should chair the third committee, the Housing Scrutiny Committee, as they are the second largest party, with a Green Party Vice-Chair. After two years we would bring back to Full Council with a request for the roles to switch, and for a Green Chair and Liberal Democrat Vice Chair.

 

I made this position clear in a conversation to the Leader of the Council earlier this week, and set it out in writing in an email to all Group Leaders on the morning of Full Council. The agreement made between officers and Group Leaders was that nominations could be made on the day in Full Council.

 

We were therefore surprised when the Deputy Leader of the Council told the Council that the Green nomination had been withdrawn the evening before, and that the Labour Group were therefore intending to run their own nomination. This is fundamentally untrue. Labour members in the meeting also confirmed that this is what they had been told.

 

Despite the fact that I clarified that this was not the case and put forward our own nomination, the Labour Group voted for a Labour candidate.

 

We now have three scrutiny committees in Brent – two chaired by the Conservatives, one by Labour. The Liberal Democrats and the Greens have been completely excluded.

 

The only conclusion we can draw from this series of events is that the Labour Group were knowingly misled to ensure that they would vote for a Labour candidate, purely on the basis of frustration that we stated our intention to vote first for a Liberal Democrat candidate.

 

This is deeply disappointing – personal vendettas should not have a place in politics. Upholding how Brent residents voted and the collaboration that they asked for should take priority.

 

Deliberately misleading Councillors by misrepresenting facts is also personally disappointing to me. We have seen the impact of misinformation on our democracy. It erodes trust, weakens debate, and pushes us into a divisive entrenched politics rather than towards the collaboration required as we face the most complex set of challenges that our nation, and Brent, has experienced.

 

I used to be part of the Labour Group. I know first hand where tribal loyalty and a lack of critical thinking can lead, and I’m disappointed in my former colleagues for their inability to question despite the facts being clearly outlined in the council chamber yesterday.

 

I am deeply disappointed that a personal grudge against the Liberal Democrats robbed Brent residents of the opportunity for a scrutiny committee chaired by an opposition party, as is standard practice across the country, and that individuals in Brent Labour misled the chamber in order to achieve this.