I understand that Tory councillor Michael Maurice commandeered the Tory Group's office office at the Civic Centre yesterday evening to offer Reform's Brent West Candidate, Ian Collier and his eight or so supporters tea and biscuits ahead of the Full Council meeting. Apparently, using his electronic tag, he then escorted them from the 4th floor into the 3rd floor Council Chamber where they were able to occupy the front row of the Public Gallery before admittance of the general public who had been queueing outside.
From that position the group were able to applaud every utterance of Cllr Maurice and Ian Collier and barrack Palestine supporters.
Ian Collier, a former Conservative supporter, describes himself on LinkedIn as a retired actuary and investment banker but claimed to be a representative of the people of Brent when he presented his petition opposing the Brent-Nablus Twinning. In fact in the Brent West General Election he came 6th out of six candidates with 4.98% of the vote, losing his deposit.
Presenting the petition Collier spoke about 'We British people' opposing sectarianism and divisiveness but then said that the names on his petition were 'almost entirely English sounding names, Jewish sounding, Hindu, Sikh, Jain sounding - an array of the richness of Brent's ethnic groups. There is one group that is missing, there are hardly any Muslim sounding names on the petition.'
He claimed that this indicated that the twinning had caused division and then in a statement that did not appear to help heal division, and amid cries of 'lies', 'rubbish' and 'that is a slur', said it was 'being pushed that the twinning arrangement is no more than a sham to transfer funds and resources to a proscribed organisation.'
He went on to say, 'Let's assume that this is not the case' but then suggested that the setting up of a Community Interest Company as part of the project was acknowledged to be 'far less regulated than a charity.'
Before his main response, Cllr Butt, leader of the council, said on the lack of Muslim names that his and other Muslim councillors' names had been added as signatories wihout their consent. (They had been removed after the petitioners had drawn attention to the matter).
Adopting an emolliative tone he said the council had been working with the petition organisers to resolve any misunderstandings and it was important that their voices be heard. He recognised that the petitioners cared deeply about the borough and its shared values and he emphasised that Brent is 'deeply proud' to be the home of a vibrant Jewish community with roots that go back generations.
He said the borough was a place of many cultured and faiths and it was the Council's to make sure every resident feels safe and heard.
He went on, 'I'm personally aware of the anxieties raised and we are not ignoring them. I will be meeting with representatives of the Jewish community to hear their concerns and my door will be open to meet with the petitioners.'
Cllr Butt continued, 'I'm qute clear and Cllr Afzal (supporter of the twinning) agrees with me that if the twinning is to be a success it must be about peace, cultural exchange and mutual understanding...Brent has always attempted to build bridges where we can.'
He said that the Council had been in contact with the Nablus local government following the petition, and would ensure that the concerns were addressed if they had not already been answered. He said that utlimately the aim is to builld relationships that support, not divide, and it will be the responsibility of the Brent Nablus Twinning association to do just that.
The issue came back with a Conservative motion about the process of approving twinning arrangements later on the agenda, although Cllr Maurice managed a contribution that got applause from the Reform supporters. Later another Tory got a dig in by quoting Cllr Nerva's words opposing the twinning to Cllr Butt.
I think Cllr Maurice's colleagues will not be entirely at ease with his flirtation with Reform and this may cause problems ahead of the 2026 local elections and some Labour councillors may feel that Cllr Butt should have objected strongly to some of Collier's more extreme comments and unevidenced allegations.
PS Challenged on the checking of names on petitions Brent Council said there had been random checks but now new more robust checking procedures will be adopted,
