Friday 1 March 2013

North Tyneside mayor gets thrown out of meeting Linda Arkley

March 1 2013
North Tyneside mayor Linda Arkley

A ROW which broke out at a council meeting saw its mayor asked to leave.
Linda Arkley, North Tyneside’s elected mayor, allegedly exchanged heated words with a Labour councillor during budget discussions.
She ended up leaving the meeting, along with the rest of the council’s Tory group. A motion was passed by the Labour members to exclude her.
The extraordinary turn of events happened during Wednesday night’s budget meeting at North Tyneside Council’s headquarters.
Jim Allen, leader of the council’s Labour group, claims Mrs Arkley “berated” Labour councillor Sandra Graham after she asked questions about workers’ rights and the safeguarding of external funding.
Coun Graham was asking questions relating to our story last month about Eastern European workers found to be living in buildings on the old Swan Hunter shipyard site.
Coun Graham said she felt “humiliated”. The Whitley Bay councillor, who was only elected last May, said: “I asked a legitimate question regarding the workers who were living at Swan Hunter and whether this would pose any business risk to European Regional Development Fund money.


“The mayor, who had remained silent during a previous budget meeting last week, stood up and began shouting at me. She called for me to resign.
“The chair suspended the meeting to calm the situation down but she carried on shouting. I was shaking and I felt humiliated.”
The chair of the council, Frank Lott, suspended the meeting, to achieve some order. He said: “When the council re-convened the Labour group requested that the mayor make an apology to the whole council, which she refused to do and then continued berating the Labour member.
“The Labour group then moved a procedural motion to exclude the mayor from the meeting, then the whole of the Tory group left the meeting, leaving Labour and Liberals to continue the business.”
A statement issued by the North Tyneside Conservatives said: “Elected Mayor Linda Arkley was appalled on Wednesday in a public council meeting at a question which appeared to her to have under- tones of discrimination against Eastern European workers employed by a local independent company, supporting a significant number of local jobs.
“Mrs Arkley reacted to the question because of the way it was put. Councillors, as community leaders, have to be careful in the language they use, to avoid generating tensions in the community towards any particular group.
“The allegations against Mayor Arkley of bullying and harassment are completely untrue and unfounded.
“It is disappointing that the Mayor Arkley was unable to participate in an important budget meeting about providing services and jobs and encouraging investment. ”
Linda Arkley was unavailable for comment yesterday.


Read More http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/north-east-news/evening-chronicle-news/2013/03/01/north-tyneside-mayor-gets-thrown-out-of-meeting-72703-32905187/#ixzz2MKeJ1wZ1

Thursday 28 February 2013

Budget meeting storm in chamber as meeting excludes the elected mayor Linda Arkley from the meeting

Budget meeting storm in chamber as meeting excludes the elected mayor Linda Arkley from the meeting

At tonight's budget meeting held Wednesday 27 February.
Opposition Councillors were challenging the Mayor and her Cabinet on her budget proposals, through questions and proposals for her to reconsider before the final meeting on 5th March, there was a political storm.

A councillor was seeking information on workers’ rights and the safeguarding of external funding, but before the question could be fully presented, the elected mayor jumped to her feet and started bullying and harassing the questioner and making unnecessary remarks.

The mayor continued despite the chair of the council asking her to sit down, which she refused so the chair of council (Frank Lott), suspended the council meeting, to achieve some order. When the council re-convened the labour group requested that the mayor make an apology to the whole council, which she refused to do so and then continued berating the labour member. The labour group then moved a procedural motion to exclude the mayor from the meeting, then the whole of the Tory group left the meeting, leaving labour and liberals to continue the business, and both objections went forward unopposed.