Climate protesters disrupt Bucks Council meeting and are called ‘idiots’ by leader

Climate protesters disrupted a Buckinghamshire Council meeting on Thursday afternoon and claimed they had been prevented from asking questions.

Activists with their mouths taped shut held signs warning that there was ‘no democracy here’ during a session of the finance and resources select committee at the council’s headquarters in Aylesbury.

Council leader Martin Tett was interrupted by the silent protest midway through his introduction of a progress report on budget recommendations made last year by a councillors’ scrutiny group.

He said: “Oh we’ve got some idiots disrupting the meeting. God, why don’t you go and spray something over a painting.”

Committee chairman Dev Dhillon asked if he could ‘pause the meeting’, to which the leader added: “Yeah sure. Well, they are just idiots.”

Protesters said they attended the committee to scrutinise the council’s management of public money after questions they sent to the committee allegedly did not receive replies.

The group also claimed there were ‘very limited opportunities for the public to engage with the policies of the council’, even though select committees are supposed to open to questions from the public.

Protesters said they submitted several questions in advance of Thursday’s meeting but say all were refused and that no question from the public has ever been put to it over at least the last two years.

One of the protesters Sheena MacCormack told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) she was ‘very disappointed’ with the committee.

She said: “Questions posed, none accepted, and when we stood up in silent protest, we were treated with contempt by the leader of Bucks Council who suggested we should go paint a wall instead. Is this what public service looks like?”

The council has invested in fossil fuels via its pensions fund, which is pooled with funds of other local authorities in the ‘Brunel Pension Partnership’

Bucks has previously stressed that its pensions fund investments are managed by Brunel and that the partnership is committed to getting the largest emitters of carbon emissions to tackle climate change.

However, activist Rachel Blackmore said: “I’m very concerned that my Bucks Council Pension is still being invested in fossil fuels.

“I’ve attended many pension committee meetings, but as a member of the public I’m not allowed to ask questions.”

The Bucks resident said she had submitted questions to the committee for Thursday’s meeting which were not accepted, ‘even though they related to the agenda’.

Another activist Linda Bonhomme added: “The select committee is supposed to hold the council to account and is the only place we can submit questions, but our questions are not accepted for consideration. How else can we be heard?”

Cllr Dhillon told the LDRS the council ‘welcomes’ input from residents and that all scrutiny committees have public question slots for the public to ask questions.

He said: “These questions do need to relate to items on the agenda and this was explained in advance to the questioners in this case.”

The councillor adder that there were many other ways residents could get involved with council decisions such as speaking at meetings, participating in local community boards and taking part in public consultations.