‘What a bag of hot air’: Hull council meeting descends into chaos

Video shows councillor telling one member to ‘shut up’ and accusing another of not paying tax

Another video of a council meeting descending into chaos has been widely shared online, a month after Twitter made Handforth parish council’s Jackie Weaver an internet star.

In scenes reminiscent of the infamous Handforth clip, councillors representing Hull rowed over Zoom during a motion on littering, as members accused each other of lying and not paying their taxes.

The situation became heated during a discussion about city centre litter enforcement.

Tensions stemmed from a Labour councillor reporting two Liberal Democrats, Cllr Charles Quinn and Cllr Mark Bisbey, to the police for allegedly flouting social distancing rules while being photographed.

The meeting quickly descended into chaos when Labour Cllr Phil Webster told Cllr Quinn to “shut up” when he attempted to interject in the midst of his tirade.

Cllr Webster then accused another Lib Dem, Cllr Cheryl Payne, of not paying council tax, telling her: “Don’t you wave your finger – try paying your council tax for once.”

At this point, other members could be heard shouting “how dare you”, while one councillor said “this is outrageous”.

Read more:

• Handforth parish council: The history of a feud
• Handforth Parish Council: Britain’s most infamous authority could be abolished under new review
• Mayor faces no-confidence vote after chaos at infamous Handforth Parish Council meeting

One councillor can be heard exclaiming “what a bag of hot air”, while, seemingly apropos of nothing, Cllr Webster shouts back: “You’re shouting at us, there’s a new one, try shouting at your wife for once”, leading some councillors to laugh while others called it “outrageous”.

Cllr Webster then accused the Lib Dems of “one lie after the other”, making reference to tuition fees and rises in VAT.

Cllrs Payne, Quinn and Bisbey have been contacted for comment.

The recording was shared online by BBC journalist David Harrison, who tweeted: “Hull’s full council meeting has just gone full Handforth parish council...”

Handforth parish council attracted international attention after millions of people watched clips from a rowdy meeting last month, with official Jackie Weaver becoming a trending term on Twitter.

The bizarre meeting, which took place in December, began with a councillor “mumbling “f*** off” under their breath while chair Brian Tolver refused to recognise the legitimacy of the session.

Mr Tolver told meeting clerk Ms Weaver, from the Cheshire Association of Local Councils, to “stop talking” and “you have no authority here”, following which Ms Weaver removed Mr Tolver from the meeting.

In response to Mr Tolver’s eviction, vice-chair Aled Brewerton yelled at Ms Weaver to “read the standing orders”, while other members of the meeting began hysterically laughing.

The clip of a local government meeting became an unlikely internet sensation, with thousands of people watching the parish council’s live meeting the week after it went viral, despite the star of the show – Ms Weaver – not being present.