Councillor denies using ‘extremely offensive and sexually degrading’ word towards town hall leader

A council meeting in Oldham was aborted after a councillor was accused of using an ‘extremely offensive and sexually degrading’ word towards the town hall leader.

The full council meeting on Wednesday (September 17), was first adjourned by the mayor when councillors started shouting over each other during a motion on recognising the state of Palestine and famine in Gaza. 

As councillors prepared to leave the chamber, another argument broke out. It is alleged a slur was used against council leader Arooj Shah.
Coun Kamran Ghafoor denies using the word. The mayor cancelled the rest of the meeting, citing ‘aggressive behaviour’. 

Councillor Shah told the Local Democracy Reporting Service she was ‘horrified’, adding: “In the midst of a discussion, following the adjournment of the meeting, the leader of the Oldham Group used a degrading and explicit insult.

“We all have a duty to uphold the highest standards in public office and I will be making a formal complaint regarding [the] incident.” 
Coun Shah said word carries particular cultural weight in South Asian communities.  

Coun Shaid Mushtaq, who was involved in the initial clash, said: “The adjournment happened because elected members didn’t feel safe. 
“An abusive, vulgar word was used. The word was spoken in Urdu/Punjabi language. To be that aggressive and verbally abuse a woman, that’s not how elected members should be behaving.” 

Coun Ghafoor denied using any such word, adding: “The suggestion that I used a ‘sexually degrading’ term against Councillor Shah is completely false. I did not, at any point, direct any such remark at her. 

“To now suggest that councillors ‘did not feel safe’ because of me is an attempt to cover up the reality of what actually happened – which is that the meeting was first adjourned because Councillor Mushtaq repeatedly interrupted and tried to shout me down while I was exercising my right of reply.

“Oldham deserves better than smear tactics and cynical attempts to silence opposition. I will not allow these false accusations to go unchallenged, and I will continue to speak up on behalf of the people of Oldham.”

The meeting is due to resume next week following a review of CCTV.