Clear the gallery!

 

Full council last week experienced some disruption. A bunch of Reform supporters were in the public gallery and, rather oddly, also in the well of the council chamber. This area is reserved for councillors, officers and press. The only members of the public allowed to sit in the well (on the edge of it) are those with disabilities which make it difficult to access the public gallery. Joining the Reform supporters in the well was Mark Steele, the conspiracy theorist who claims street lights are part of a 5G weapon system which is killing people. Steele runs his very own political party, Save Us Now, which appears to have been created in his own image. Nevertheless, despite the different party memberships, |Steele appeared to be getting on well with his Reform chums. Other than the one person in a wheel chair, we do not know how these people found their way into the chamber unchallenged.

Part way into the meeting, Labour complained to the mayor that abusive language was being used by people in the public gallery. I didn't hear what was said but the Mayor immediately clamped down and ordered that the public gallery be cleared. Mark Steele chose to leave by walking through the council chamber shouting abuse at Labour councillors while looking at the Lib Dem group. The video above caught what happened.

Given ongoing concerns about the safety of politicians, quite why Reform supporters and others were allowed to gather in and occupy part of the well of the council chamber is unknown. Perhaps the Reform leadership of Gateshead Council may wish to look into this and report back on how this will be avoided in the future.