Brent Live, the live transmission of Council meetings, failed last night, but in a broader sense Brent Council itself died.
The first reading of the 2015-17 budget included a limp defence of the 'dented shield' approach by Council Leader Muhammed Butt and his deputy, Michael Pavey, called on local people to help decide where the cuts should fall.
At times it appeared that there was a collective failure of imagination as councillors failed to grasp the enormity of what might unfold over the next few years, although Dan Filson acknowledged 'it is a nightmare, we have dreadful decisions to make'.
It is the death of a Council that serves the people.
It also died in a moral sense when Labour combined to defeat a Brondesbury Conservative motion calling for an independent inquiry into the Employment Tribunal case which found Brent Council guilty of racial discrimination, victimisation and constructive dismissal. In a cogent speech Cllr John Warren said that the same team responsible for that verdict were now undertaking the staff restructuring and would be managing the cuts in staffing resulting from budget decisions. He asked how staff could have confidence in that process and urged them to write to him with their concerns.
Labour councillors listened to him in silence and then in response Cllr Butt was reduced to making sweeping statements about valuing diversity and accused the three person Brondesbury group of not being diverse.
Cllr Wilhelmina Mitchell Murray appeared to be having difficulty in stomaching what was being said and got up and left the chamber as the vote was called. She returned after the vote.
The 'official' three person Kenton Conservative group failed to vote with their three person Brondesbury Park colleagues.
A number of councillors were absent including Cllr Zaffar Van Kalwala. He was the only one of the group for whom apologies were not read out.
The first reading of the 2015-17 budget included a limp defence of the 'dented shield' approach by Council Leader Muhammed Butt and his deputy, Michael Pavey, called on local people to help decide where the cuts should fall.
At times it appeared that there was a collective failure of imagination as councillors failed to grasp the enormity of what might unfold over the next few years, although Dan Filson acknowledged 'it is a nightmare, we have dreadful decisions to make'.
It is the death of a Council that serves the people.
It also died in a moral sense when Labour combined to defeat a Brondesbury Conservative motion calling for an independent inquiry into the Employment Tribunal case which found Brent Council guilty of racial discrimination, victimisation and constructive dismissal. In a cogent speech Cllr John Warren said that the same team responsible for that verdict were now undertaking the staff restructuring and would be managing the cuts in staffing resulting from budget decisions. He asked how staff could have confidence in that process and urged them to write to him with their concerns.
Labour councillors listened to him in silence and then in response Cllr Butt was reduced to making sweeping statements about valuing diversity and accused the three person Brondesbury group of not being diverse.
Cllr Wilhelmina Mitchell Murray appeared to be having difficulty in stomaching what was being said and got up and left the chamber as the vote was called. She returned after the vote.
The 'official' three person Kenton Conservative group failed to vote with their three person Brondesbury Park colleagues.
A number of councillors were absent including Cllr Zaffar Van Kalwala. He was the only one of the group for whom apologies were not read out.
