Probe after ill-tempered council meeting halted

An investigation is under way after a "breakdown in proceedings" led to a council meeting being called off.

During a heated discussion about councillors' allowances at Newark and Sherwood District Council on Tuesday, which was streamed online, an incident took place off camera which led to the stand-in chair calling a halt to the session.

Sources present at the meeting told the BBC that Simon Forde, leader of the Independents for Newark & District group, "lost himself" and "behaved aggressively" towards Conservative councillor Penny Rainbow after she asked him to stop swearing.

Forde, who is also the authority's portfolio holder for climate and the environment, has declined to comment.

He can be seen on the stream gathering his belongings and walking out of shot.

Non-aligned Independent councillor Johno Lee can be heard saying "he's threatened another councillor, absolutely not".

Meanwhile, Labour councillor Linda Tift, who was temporarily chairing the meeting, is heard saying "Simon, what are you doing? Oh my God" before calling an adjournment "while we calm things down".

Forde then left the meeting and did not return.

The council's usual chair and vice-chair, David Moore and Debbie Darby, had already left the meeting because the discussion related to their allowances.

After a 13-minute break, Tift said the meeting had "turned into a complete fiasco".

Following a vote, the meeting was then adjourned until a later date.

"I don't see how we can recover from all this unpleasantness, but I would ask you all remember that you are professional councillors and take out this personal slagging off that you're getting all so good at because it's irrelevant," Tift said.

Councillors had been debating a motion about the special responsibility allowance (SRA) paid to council members who take on extra duties.

The Conservative motion called on the council to close a "loophole" whereby the chair and vice-chair receive two additional allowances, despite a "1-SRA-only rule".

1-SRA is a policy adopted by some councils stating that councillors only receive one SRA, regardless of the number of remunerated posts they hold.

Labour councillors, including leader Paul Peacock, argued against the motion saying "the civic duties of the vice-chair and chair have always been separated out".

During the debate, Independents for Newark and District councillor Jean Hall accused Johno Lee of "threatening my life".

Lee denied the accusation and demanded the meeting be postponed.

The BBC understands it was Forde's intervention in this argument off camera that led to the dispute with Rainbow minutes later.

Conservative group leader Jack Kellas called Forde's behaviour "completely unacceptable" and compared the situation to a notorious parish council meeting that went viral in 2021.

"This is worse than a Jackie Weaver moment and the council is lucky the whole ordeal was not live-streamed," he said.

"When you have a cabinet member and leader of a political party behaving in this way it risks serious reputational damage."

A Newark and Sherwood District Council spokesperson said: "Last night's full council meeting was adjourned following a breakdown in proceedings.

"We are disappointed that the meeting ended in the way it did. We recognise the importance of respectful debate and appropriate conduct at public meetings.

"Unfortunately, this was not maintained during the meeting, and it was agreed that proceedings should be adjourned and reconvened at a later date.

"The council remains committed to high standards of conduct, transparency, and democratic accountability, and to ensure meetings are held respectfully and in line with agreed procedures.

"The council will now investigate the events of last night's meeting.

"We will also review the next procedural steps and where no decisions were taken on remaining items, these will be considered when the meeting is reconvened."

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