Handford Parish Council debacle

[Kit19]

Depressing how many people in the MSM and on social media seem to find this hilarious probably because its a parish council meeting and seem to be overlooking the bullying and misogyny

Ales Brewerton’s behaviour was shocking. Of course he wasn’t the only one, but his sheer venom and anger stood out to me. If I was exposed to that sort of anger in person I’d be frightened. I wonder if he makes a habit of behaving like that towards people.

It's bloody depressing that it's being seen as funny, It wasn't funny for Jackie was it?! The positive is that most commentators are on Jackie's side and think the men are pathetic.

I live in a village where the PC is run by old white men, my female friend lasted 6 months on there before she resigned, she said she was constantly belittled, talked over and ignored. I promised her that once Covid is over, we will join up together, so we can support each other. This village is all run by men for men, eg-the beautiful large field which was left for whole village use, is fenced off for most of the year as it used by the (male) cricket team.

It was also glaringly obvious that only AFTER the complete frothing-at-the-mouth nutters had been removed by the wonderfully calm Jackie, and the other two women had spoken up to denounce their behaviour, did the other men start to creep back on to say 'can I just make it clear that this behaviour was unacceptable'.

Couldn't they have made that clear earlier? Say, when Jackie was being screamed at and bullied?

FFS.

I haven't seen it. It did make me think, not even slightly fondly, of the nightmare period when I was Chair of Governors at my children's primary school and got caught in the middle between a willy-waving contest (metaphorically, fortunately) between the Head and some of the other governors. Guess who was forced out in the end. (Big clue: it wasn't any of the men.) Grim. Put me off anything involving committees ever again.

Reminded me of my local Labour Party during the worst of the Momentum years .

I have to admit I’m really surprised at the reaction to this! I watched it and thought Jackie was massively over-reaching like a power crazed autocrat. I think it was unacceptable to kick the Chair and Vice Chair out of the meeting (assuming they’re elected), and it didn’t appear that she is or had the proper authority to just arbitrarily kick elected officials people off the meeting. It’s extraordinarily rude!

Yes the Vice Chair kicked off immediately after the Chair was unceremoniously removed (and I thought the Chair’s gripes were valid, if they are accurate) so I don’t understand all this “go Jackie” sentiment. Is it because they’re men and she’s a woman? (I have Aspergers so maybe not seeing what others can see, but from my perspective I thought she was totally out of order! Although the whole thing was generally embarrassing for all parties!)

Nb. If they’re not elected, then my feelings are less strong - to the point of utter ambivalence - but I still don’t hold Jackie up as anything to aspire to!

Questions, who and where was the normal PC Clerk ? Was this a PC meeting or another sub committee meeting ?

I think Jackie did a sterling job dealing with the level of aggression she encountered with such a calm demeanor. Didn't she say something about as Tolver had decided to call himself the Clerk , they should refer to her as Britney Spears or some such ?

MammaMia do you think it's acceptable for people (any people) to behave like that in an official capacity during a meeting? Shouting in uncontrolled rage? Sneering and laughing at the person who is trying to maintain order and deal with the issue at hand?

I don't. And I particularly don't think it's acceptable where the people aggressively shouting and sneering are all men doing it to a woman. It's a display of naked sexism, demonstrating their belief in their inherent superiority, and that she should defer to them. 'STOP... TALKING' the self-styled clerk says. 'STOP BEING...' and you just know all the things he wants to say here (female, disobedient, disrespectful to me as a man...)

@MammaMiaWallace Parish councillors are elected, there are often not many people wanting to take on the role, so they put their name forward and if there are only as many people as positions available then they are elected if you see what I mean ?
You have to meet all the eligibility criteria as well.

Right I've listened to Jackie on WH now, again she was calm and reasonable. It did mean I had to hear the most aggressive bit of the meeting again and I'm stunned at just how angry that man got. If that had been in person I'm not sure he'd have held it together - he was ready to lynch her.

He's called Cllr Aled Brewerton

His LinkedIn profile says he is "Experienced Solicitor with a demonstrated history of working in the legal services industry. Skilled in Legal Assistance, Arbitration, Dispute Resolution" - really?

Hideous man

I thought it was interesting the women were thankful it was a zoom meeting. I took that to mean the clerk would have been physically threatened by the men, if not actually assaulted, if they had been in the same room, given the level of vitriol pouring from the vice chair. He couldn't keep still, he was so angry. I'd've been frightened for my safety if I were in that position against men like that, demonstrating uncontrollable anger.

I couldn't believe that newsreaders were laughing at this video this morning.

How can anyone find that bloke (the vice chair?) screaming and intimidating a woman like that funny? That's the point where the video ended and cut to laughing presenters

Are we supposed to find it totes hilares and acceptable because of their ages or something?

Although the Chair is an older guy, the vice Chair who was screaming "read the standing orders" at her and calling someone an old fool isnt old - he was at university 2006-2008 so he's likely in his 30s

I am actually a parish councillor. I joined because I thought the (elderly, mostly male) council would benefit from hearing a young mother’s voice. But I’ve been considering resigning because of the rudeness I’ve repeatedly encountered, mostly from one particular male councillor. I’ve been accused of “pushing my personal agenda as a mother” because we received a grant and I suggested spending it on playground equipment for disabled kids, instead of a notice board which is what the male councillors wanted to spend it on. My kids aren’t disabled but apparently the fact I’m a mother is colouring my perception because I’m too focused on providing things for children. I thought that was the whole point of having different people on the council, to represent different viewpoints?

I was also accused of “meddling in other people’s business” because I opposed a planning application that the male councillors wanted to pass. Apparently if you don’t agree to permit other people’s plans then you’re meddling - they had already decided that they wanted this to go ahead so it was very inconvenient that I objected.

So it’s with shock that I see this behaviour is widespread in parish councils... but also relief because I realise it’s not just being directed at me - it’s everywhere. I’m this close to just saying fuck it, I have better things to do than argue with you lot.

Born in 1976 according to companies house. there's a surprising amount of publicly available information about him out there, including his address.

That man was screeching like an actual 4 year old who wanted sweeties

That’s exactly what i said to dh when I watched it

#bemorejackie

That sounds awful Glenchase. Really unpleasant, and the kind of thing that would actually make you like the place that you live a bit less.

I can understand why you've considered leaving, but maybe this video will shine a light on this sort of behaviour and make easier to challenge? It might also make communities more aware of what goes on behind the scenes. I really hope you carry on and can recruit some more women to join the pushback.

I've done quite a bit of local council work. The video was extreme but not untypical. I think a lot of the older men use it to bolster up their lost sense of purpose once they are retired, having had no interests outside work. The levels of pettiness have to be seen to be believed and flouncing isn't uncommon. Its a shame more women don't get involved, but frankly I dont blame them.

Every interaction with our local community council I've had suggests that this is pretty much the case for many of them.

Ruled by older men with overinflated sense of their own importance, who like to throw their weight about - nobody with a job or children (or both) has the time to spend on these meetings, so they run about unchecked and powermad banging on about their own pet grievances.

NOT ALL COMMUNITY COUNCILS/OLDER MEN. Just the ones I've encountered.

I suspect that people find it funny because it is not unfamiliar - the dynamic maybe is extreme but it's not exceptional

One of my nightmare governors was a retired man who thought he was God's gift because of his business career, which was certainly impressive, but of very limited relevance to acting as a critical friend to an inner city primary school. His own children had been educated in the private sector from the age of 3. One of his ideas for checking that the school was doing well was to review which secondary schools our year 6 children moved on to. There was no telling him anything. He loved the sound of his own voice.

Gosh, this is cathartic.

I think that Jackie demonstrated amazing professionalism and should be very proud of herself.

The behaviour of Aled in particular was disgraceful.

Did I hear a different women's hour? I had seen the short clip, and didn't feel I could comment without better context. They definitely spoke about bullying of women in that situation being a problem.