Dismayed councillors staged a walkout when a Newcastle politician suspended by the Labour Party over an Islamophobia scandal was spotted at a council meeting.
Joyce McCarty was seen at Wednesday night’s meeting of Newcastle City Council, the first time she has attended a public meeting since being suspended over claims of a “Muslim plot” against former city Labour leader Nick Forbes earlier this year. Former lord mayor of Newcastle Habib Rahman dramatically left the council chamber after seeing Coun McCarty, who is sitting as an independent during a 12-month ban from her party, at the back of the room and was followed by fellow Labour councillors Shumel Rahman, Nicu Ion and Abdul Samad.
Coun Habib Rahman told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that it was “difficult and painful” to see the former deputy council leader at the meeting and sat on the Labour side of the chamber, rather than in the section reserved for independents.
