At last night’s Full Council meeting, Councillors were shocked to witness the Labour Leader of Milton Keynes City Council, Cllr Pete Marland, respond ‘F*** off’ to a local teenager’s contribution during the public meeting.
The incident occurred during the debate about concerns regarding proposals for cuts to fire engines at Broughton and West Ashland stations, which the young resident was speaking against.
Following the incident, proceedings had to be interrupted, when Deputy Leader of the Conservatives Group, Peter Geary, intervened to demand an apology for the unacceptable use of profanity towards a member of the public. Councillor Marland initially responded that he would ‘address the issue in his closing remarks’ before later apologising stating “…At the end of one of the members of the public speeches I did use a profanity and for that I absolutely apologise directly to the Council and to the member of the public present…”
Leader of the Conservative Group Cllr Shazna Muzammil said:
“It is absolutely disgraceful behaviour for anyone, let alone the Leader of our Council, to lose their composure and swear at a young member of our City who was simply seeking to contribute to a vital debate. Cllr Marland is supposed to represent the best of us, not the worst, this behaviour is not who we are as a council or as a city, he should reflect on whether he still has the composure to lead."
This morning, Cllr Marland has responded to the incident further, stating to a press outlet:
“The Conservative version is highly misleading and inaccurate. At the end of a speech from a member of the public I did make a remark, off microphone, that some people in the chamber did hear. I immediately took responsibility for the comment and quickly apologised to the council and to the member of the public as the words were not appropriate for a public meeting, and I am sorry. However, I want to make clear that the remark was not directed at anyone and to claim so is untrue.”
Cllr Muzammil responded:
“The statement issued by the Leader this morning is disgraceful. His apology was not immediate — it came only after the Deputy Leader of the Conservative Group raised a point of order and asked them to own up and apologise to the young resident. To now suggest that his comment, made during a member of the public’s speech, was not directed at anyone is frankly laughable.
His authority to lead this Council has been irrevocably damaged — not just by his initial outburst, but by his attempt to downplay it afterwards. This is extremely serious, and something Peter Marland still doesn’t seem to grasp.
Cllr Marland’s behaviour is an embarrassment to both the Council and this city. I have submitted a formal complaint to MKCC and I certainly hope the Liberal Democrat group will do the same. I am also asking the Labour Party nationally to investigate if he has broken any of their rules and brought their party into disrepute.
We must do better — our residents, and especially our young people, deserve far better leadership than this.”
