Sandwell Mayor accused of aggressive behaviour after 'storming out' of care home debate

Mushtaq Hussain, Mayor of Sandwell, walked out of the full council meeting for a comfort break during a debate on the possible closure of a care home.

Shaun Bailey, MP for West Bromwich West, who attended full council meeting on October 12, has written a letter to the Department for Levelling Up, Communities, and Housing, and the Local Government Association.

The letter said: “We all watched in horror as you chose to storm out of the meeting halfway through and declare a ‘comfort break’.

“Your aggressive behaviour which saw you slam your hands on the Mayor’s desk and storm out was unbecoming as our first citizen.

A video of Mr Hussain walking out of the meeting has attracted several thousands views on Twitter, which Mr Bailey argues “has people talking about our borough for all the wrong reasons”.

During the meeting, Mr Hussein interjected in a debate on the potential closure of Walker Grange care home.

The letter said: “During the debate on the motion of Walker Grange care home, you proceeded to interject on councillor William Gill, stating that: ‘Well, if there’s Health and Safety risks..’ [sic]”.

“This was outrageous and you were (thankfully) interrupted by the monitoring officer, who I can only assume had to remind you of your duty to remain impartial and not engage in debate on the matter being discussed in Full Council.”

The MP has called for a formal apology; more training to be completed to perform his mayoral duties, and, if no longer satisfied with his role as Mayor, an immediate resignation.

A Sandwell council spokesperson said: “Discussions will be held with all members so as to ensure full council can be conducted more effectively in the future.

“We will look into Mr Bailey’s concerns about the meeting of Sandwell council on Tuesday evening.”

The Mayor of Sandwell has been approached directly for comment.