Censured councillor will not apologise

A councillor censured after his manner left onlookers fearing that he might hit a colleague said he will not apologise and that he was exercising his right to speak.

Slough borough councillor Iftakhar Ahmed "made aggressive and threatening gestures" during a residents' meeting held to discuss new parking restrictions, the authority said.

Fellow Conservative councillor Puja Bedi was speaking at the meeting as the council's cabinet member for roads in October 2023.

But Ahmed told a meeting on Thursday that he would not apologise.

He told councillors public speech was "not disrespectful if you're not using foul language against any individual".

"Councillors are generally afforded a high level of freedom of speech protection," he said.

"Elected representatives play a unique role in democratic life and need to be able to engage in robust and even controversial discourse."

He spoke as councillors discussed a motion proposed by Labour councillors to reinforce measures that govern members' behaviour.

Ahmed said he did not accept the council's standards committee's findings in March and accused it of trying "to suppress my democratic voice".

"I'm the only one who holds them to account and I will continue to do so for and on behalf of Slough residents without any fear, without any intimidation," he said.

Labour councillor Christine Hulme proposed the motion and said the outcome in Ahmed's case showed the authority's "systems of holding councillors to account for poor standards of behaviour are weak and don't act as a deterrent".

Conservative council leader Dexter Smith backed Labour councillors' proposals.

"My group's spirit is clearly behind this," he said.

"I admit sometimes my members – but I think it could be true of all members collectively – sometimes fall short of the standards that might be expected of us as we get carried away by the heat of the debate."

He added: "I'm not making any excuses but we are all on a journey of self-improvement I believe, just as the council is."

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