Commenting on media reports of a rift between Brent Council Leader Muhammed Butt and Chief Executive Gareth Daniel Liberal Democrat Leader of the Opposition Councillor Paul Lorber, who carried out Muhammed Butt’s role as Leader of Brent Council between 2006 and 2010, said:
This is an extraordinary breakdown in relationships and poses a real risk to the effective running of Brent Council. I have had my differences with Gareth Daniel over the years but have always found it possible to maintain a professional relationship.
If Labour councillors are clumsily trying to ease Mr Daniel out of his position they are risking very large sums of public cash on redundancy and compensation payments, not to mention the damage to their and the council’s reputation.
It’s clear that the Labour group is split down the middle and Cllr Butt is being undermined even by his own Executive members. For the sake of Brent’s residents this infighting needs to end.
